Adam
by Clariz
Summary: NEW CHAPTER TODAY December 2 "In the report that followed they announced that the NY Times had received package containing an infant body suit and a woman’s T shirt both soaked in blood, accompanied by a note, allegedly from the notorious serial killer, b
1. Default Chapter

**_Introduction_**

The contents of this story will include some scientific connotations about issues that are presently experimental. While I did intensive research in the Internet, most of the information I used is based in notes and publications by a molecular biologist and geneticist at Princeton University specialized in cloning research and from an old buddy who is a molecular biologist with a PhD in genetic engineering research.  
Many of the technical aspects, however, were way over my head. I used my imagination to fill the gaps and fit the concept into the mainstream of the first few chapters, yet, I'm sure that an expert could "what if" me to death and poke holes big enough to fit a locomotive, so I reminded myself, as I remind the reader that this is a _fiction,_ written for the purpose to entertain and doesn't presume to have any scientific value. In fact, the entire feasibility of the technical or scientific details involved is incidental and does not affect the main storyline.

The usual disclaimer applies: The characters that you can identify belong to Thomas Harris; they are used herein without permission, in the spirit of admiration and respect. No infringement of copyright or financial gain is intended .

With that out of the way, I hope you enjoy reading this fiction as much as I enjoyed writing it. I completed this story before I began uploading it, and will be posting the chapters at the rate of about one per week, or after I finish editing each individual chapter.

As you probably know, comments are welcomed and one of the great motivators to go on writing in this fandom.


	2. Chapter 1 The Assignment

_The characters that you can identify belong to Thomas Harris; they are used herein without permission, but in the spirit of admiration and respect. No infringement of copyright is intended and no profit whatsoever is intended._

**_Chapter 1  
The Assignment_**

Once the FBI accepted the fact that Starling had not broken the law, and her only violation had been a failure to follow direct orders from her superior, they reinstated her to full duty with a mixture of reluctance and relief. Reluctance because they thought of her as a lose cannon and dreaded to face the repercussions of her often over-zealous behavior. Relief, because her exculpation saved the Bureau the embarrassing possibility of further negative publicity.   
Once reinstated, they didn't know what to do with her, or how better to keep her from further embarrassing the Bureau.   
Ultimately they assigned her to a witness protection case, where she spent twelve hours a day in a hospital room, sitting beside a terminally ill witness; and was relieved by a Marshall at the end of her shift. The Marshall, a man close to retirement with no interest in the job aside from reaching full pension; had no idea of Clarice's claim to fame, or her connection to the events that created headlines some month back. The anonymity suited her just fine.

In view of her pathetic status quo, she was rather surprised to be summoned to the office of the Director, in the seventh floor of the Edgar J Hover building.   
She proceeded to Director Tunberry's office where she found him accompanied by two of his cronies, Assistant Director Noonan and her own boss of the record, Clint Pearsall .   
All three men got up when she entered the room, and Tunberry came around his desk to greet her.   
"Starling, come on in. You look well." He held out his hand, in what she considered a crappy attempt to make her feel at ease.   
The other two contributed in turn with equally insincere greetings.   
  
"Sit, please," the Director said, gesturing toward a softy cushioned armchair, while he went back behind his desk, sat, and addressed Clint Pearsall, who seemed determined to avoid making eye contact with Starling, which, in her estimation was not a good sign.

"Clint, do you want to do the honors, or should I?" Clarice had the funny feeling that the whole scene was rehearsed, and waited patiently for the performance, with her hands neatly folded on her lap.   
"Maybe you should, Director Tunberry, you have all the facts necessary to answer Starling's questions, and I'm sure she'll ask plenty if she decides to accept the assignment."

Tunberry sighed softly, as if the weight of the world had been laid on his shoulders.   
Clarice felt her contempt grow.

"OK, Starling, to begin with I must stress that what we are going to tell you must never leave this room; the same applies to the nature of the assignment that we are about to offer you. Whether you take it or not, complete secrecy is of outermost importance.   
Can we have your word regarding the confidentiality of these matters?"   
She nodded, "Yes sir!"

"I'll get to the point. Immediately following the unfortunate events at the Chesapeake, our lab managed to secure both viable DNA and tissue of Hannibal Lecter, mostly from the blood he lost in the kitchen and particles of tissue attached to the cleaver.

At the time, we decided to start a research project that, if successful, would add a whole new dimension to the science of criminal profiling.   
For the purpose of applying genetic research to criminal profiling, we used all our most qualified human resources and borrowed the best technicians for several departments, including those under the Surgeon General, as well as laboratories and medical staff.   
We managed to get a generous budget from the powers that be, and two weeks after my vague but effective proposal; the project was on the way.   
Our _actual_ plan was to clone the doctor and thus have an opportunity to analyze the clone from birth onward in an effort to find answers to the doctor's criminal behavior, the reason for his insanity, and most importantly the source of his outstanding intelligence."  
  
Clarice Starling had difficulty comprehending the magnitude of what he was saying; she thought that if she understood correctly, and she thought she did, what the director was describing was, in fact, an abominable monstrosity.

Her mouth seemed to have a life of its own, and she couldn't suppress the question from spurting out,   
"Excuse me sir, are you telling me that a cloning experiment is under way to produce a baby with Doctor Lecter's identical DNA makeup?"

"That is about right, Starling." He seemed rather pleased with her ability to grasp the facts, and looked at the other two as if saying, _"I told you._"

"Haven't cloning experiments been banned?" she could feel herself getting agitated at the immorality of the whole issue, at the violation of the Doctor's human rights, let alone those of the potential child.

"Indeed, they have, _for private sectors_; but we felt that experiments such as this one, conducted by a government agency in the name of scientific research could be justified. Unfortunately not everyone agrees. When the lid came off as a result of leak from one of the technicians, and those in High Places realized _the entire nature_ of the project, they were up in arms, viewing it as political suicide. As a result we were ordered to discontinue the experiment at once, before the information leeks out to the press or the public, and we stand the risk to face public opinion on the matter.   
As you know from personal experience both the press and the public are always condemning."

Dumbfounded,Clarice stared at him in silence.   
He gave her an inquisitive look "You follow, so far?"   
She nodded,   
"Anyway," he went on, "the project is about to reach maturity, in other words, is fetus is ready for actual birth and we are faced with a direct order to destroy it before is born or allow it to be born _only_ if we find the right person to care for him, to raise him, such as it is"  
  
He paused as if expecting to hear a comment from her, but Clarice was too flabbergasted to speak, when she looked at him, her eyes fell on his name plate at the edge of his desk, it read Gabriel Tunberry. She realized that she didn't know his first name and found it ironically appropriate under the circumstances. She nodded, as if urging him to go on. He did.  
  
"In short, Starling, we have to make him disappear, it would be unwise to kill, him. Yet, once he is born he will need a mother. As you can imagine, we can't just give him to Child Services to be adopted by an unsuspecting couple, as if he was a _regular_ baby.

Tunberry spoke softly, his tone so ostensibly insincere, that Clarice wondered fleetingly about his overall credibility.   
"Starling, you are the world's foremost expert in Hannibal Lecter, hence the most qualified to handle him from birth. It will be to everyone best interest if you accept the assignment and became his adoptive mother."

"You want me to raise a _baby Hannibal Lecter_?" she leaned forward as if to reach for understanding, the whole idea was preposterous.

"Precisely," said the director, while the other two expressed their own words of agreement.

Clarice Starling was certain that not all the cards were on the table, that they were showing her a loosely abridged version of the facts.

"How are you going to manage the paperwork, birth certificate, adoption paper, the works?" she was bargaining for time to set her thoughts in order. "I am not Child Services ideal adoptive parent, you know?"   
The director momentarily avoided eye contact.   
"The usual way, the child is due around 9 1/2 month after the night at the Chesapeake, ..." he fidgeted uncomfortably. "Well... time wise, he could be yours and Lecter's...technically, that is!" Director Tunberry blushed.

Clarice let the allegation fly over. She was certain that this was probably the fall-back plan from the start; the reason why they had kept her out of public view, tucked away in a hospital room with a terminally ill witness and a witless Marshall who didn't know his ass from his elbow. This was obviously the reason why they assigned Ardelia to a lengthy case in Los Angeles and she was not due back anytime soon.   
The idea had been to keep her out of sight just in case they needed to make it appear as if she was pregnant... _"How convenient!"_ she thought.

"So, he is going to pass as my naturally born child?"   
"Exactly"   
Suddenly it downed on her that "technically" the child was already hers, her Lamb, as the Doctor would remark. As for the infant; she was his only hope for survival.

"What are the plans for his future? Are you going to be looking constantly over our shoulders to see if he punches a bully in schoolyard or not?"

"For heavens sake, Starling" erupted Noonan, "the child is not even born yet. Let's take one step at a time?"   
"I didn't get an answer, Mr Noonan," she said firmly, "Are you or aren't you going to be looking over my shoulder?"   
"We are not. In fact don't want the child to be linked to us at all, and nobody plans to hurt him either, Starling; on the contrary, we want him cared for by a responsible individual, and you are perfect for the part; we are abandoning the project, once we place him in your arms he is yours and the whole project gets dismantled, the labs are being dismantled just as we speak. You decide his future; we wash our hands and be done with him" He seemed slightly weary, but not repentant for the entire fiasco.

She couldn't hold back any longer   
"Well I just want you to be aware that if this is a ploy to get Lecter to resurface, you are sadly mistaken, because he, of all people knows that he couldn't have impregnated me."   
  
Clint Pearsall spoke for the first time. "We wouldn't have spent such large amount of taxpayer's money just to draw out Lecter. In fact, the farther he is the fewer problems we are bound to have."  
"We are up a creek here Starling; we need you in on this one. You are all we've got. Either you take him or he won't be born." Noonan illustrated in a dark tone, further emphasized by a sharp hand movement across his front from left to right

Clarice knew she was not going to let them annihilate this baby; but she wanted all her questions answered now, because she felt, correctly, that after the issue was settled these three will deny the existence of the entire incident.   
"What prevents you from destroying him and let it go at that? I really have to understand what motive, aside from the research, prompts you to bring another Hannibal Lecter into this world?"  
"We are not monsters, Starling." As soon as the words left his lips he saw the look on Clarice's eyes and sighed. "The truth is we are afraid to compound the blunder by destroying the fetus. In the worse case scenario that the press gets hold proof that the cloning occurred, then, the destruction of the fetus would add aggravation to injury; they'll crucify us. We are trying to avoid further compounding our mistakes."

She nodded, this explanation she understood, realizing that as usual, it was no moral issue, these people had no morals, they were just trying to save their asses, plain and simple.

"What job classification will I have to carry on this assignment?" As she spoke, she realized how stupid her words sounded, and recoiled, somewhat overwhelmed by the enormity of the commitment.   
The room fell silent for a short beat.  
  
"The project was assigned a hefty budget; a great deal of it has been spent. There are about 200 million left and we'll need about 50 million to dismantle. We have set entirely various untraceable accounts in foreign banks and are prepared to surrender two of them to you, for a total of one hundred and fifty million. As soon as we give you the details you can call the number, verify the amount, and change the password.   
Clint Pearsall here is the expert on that. In anticipation, he already has an Austrian account already in place that he will hand over to you plus another more easily accessible one. Once Clint finishes that formality you'll be severing the last connection with us. Thus further guaranteeing your safety and that your child. Then you sign your resignation which we'll announce the day after you get the child."  
  
"You want me to resign, and disappear?"   
The silence that followed implied agreement. Then the Director nodded.

She was outraged and felt the insane urge to ask them why they didn't take the kid and the money and ran. But managed to control herself, because she didn't want to muddle up things.

"How much time do I have to think about it?"   
"You don't, Starling, we need your answer now?" Tunberry spoke very softly and again, avoided eye contact.   
A long silence followed, and then she whispered, "What do I tell Ardelia?"   
"There is no need to explain anything. She is been gone for several month and we don't intent to bring her back any time soon." He chuckled a little sarcastically. "If you are so worried, you might consider paying your half of the rent until the end of the year, by the time she comes back she'd be able to find another roommate."   
Clarice got the picture; they could to be pushed, but only so far.

"We've rented a house for you in Virginia, for the first three month after you take the child, it has a fully furnished a nursery," Noonan sounded friendlier now. "If the Tattler tries to reach you for comment regarding your resignation, they won't be able to find you."

"How much time do I have to prepare?"   
"Mr Pearsall here will accompany you to several meetings at the Lab, and you'll get the baby the day after tomorrow.   
You might want to pack and have your belongings ready, we'll send the movers to bring them to the house in Virginia, that way, you'll be able to go directly there after you pick up the infant. If you don't have time to pack everything, just leave instructions for the movers and they'll pack the rest for you."

For a second she conjured the image of Dr. Lecter, he never appeared as wholesome as he did now in comparison with the monstrosity displayed by these respectable high echelon law enforcers.

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Feedback is welcomed and encouraged. I'll be posting one chapter a week as I do the final proofread and rewrite. 

C


	3. Meet Adam

_The known characters belong to Thomas Harris, no copyright infringement is intended. I don't make any profit from these fictions, but sure have a lot of fun writing them._

I want to thank those of you read the first chapter; more so to the folks who took the time to comment.  
In this chapter Clarice meets the still unborn Adam, and prepares for the homecoming. The doctor will show up in one of the next chapters and stay on active for the duration of the fiction. Don't be too surprised if Chapter 3 shows up sooner than expected.

_Chapter 2  
Meet Adam_  
  
After their short conversation, Tunberry suggested that Clarice wait in her old office at Behavioral Science, while he, Noonan and Pearsall finished conferencing. Forty five minutes later, she was summoned to Clint Pearsall's office. It was 11:30 in the morning.   
  
"Hey, Starling, we both have a busy day ahead." The troubled look in his eyes detracted from his cheerful tone. "I made a list here; if we go through it together, we'll probably get most of it done today."   
He handed her an envelope.  
"Here is the information on the accounts we set up for you as agreed. There are instruction, phone numbers and two passwords. Don't forget to call when you get home to verify that the funds are there; then change the passwords. After that you'll be the only one who can access either account.   
The money cannot be traced; of this I'm certain, because I set up the original accounts. However, if I were you, I'd avoid transferring large amounts into any of your known accounts. Instead, open a new, offshore account, once you do, transfer small amounts first, to avert attention.   
Clarice nodded and put the envelope in her bag. Then, he suggested that they take a ride to the Lab, in Virginia, where the cloning project was in progress.  
  
"I suggest you ask the folks there for a list instructions, we already know what formula they recommend they want you feed him, and several cases of different "Ready to feed" were delivered to the house in Virginia," he double checked checked his list, "you have 12 cases of 4oz bottles ready to feed, and 12 cases of one quart cans "already mixed", in case that after the first few days you prefer to use a disposable system with the plastic shells.   
  
Clarice gave him a curious look "I didn't know it came in so many varieties." She declared, concerned by her lack of child care experience.  
"Don't worry, you'll catch up fast. We can check their recommendations against my list here, and if any items are not already in the house, we can buy them on the way back; then we can swing by the rented property, and you can examine the nursery to verify that you have everything you need." He smiled encouraging. "Once you have the baby with you, a trip around the block becomes a project." he explained in a confidential manner that surprised her.  
  
"Have you seen him yet, Mr Pearsall?" she tried not to sound overly interested but was curious about how much these people knew about the baby, on a fist hand basis.

"No, Starling," he chuckled bitterly, "I found the true nature of this fiasco shortly before you did, and don't know much more than you do. Frankly, I'd just as well keep it that way. Originally, when the money was transferred over from Treasure, I was told to set up a variety of bank accounts, and smoke screen them. Which I did, but was not informed the details of the project."   
Clarice was surprised by the directness of the explanation and at the bitterness on his tone; she never heard him express a personal opinion before, much less a bitter one.   
She turned to him, smiled and got in the car; then, with her usual persistence, she asked,  
  
"Do you know if either Mr. Noonan or Director Tunberry came to see him? Or if anybody from the bureau has, for that matter?   
"As far an Tunberry or Noonan going there to visit, I deem it very unlikely at best. This morning, when I asked how many people actually knew the true nature of the project. I was told that the information was dispensed in a need to know basis; and very few knew the full details.   
I know that some technicians from the Bureau were assigned to the project, but most came on board while it was underway, and nobody there knows the identity of the donor of the DNA and tissue utilized in the project; not even the doctors who started it.   
In fact, I'd be willing to bet that the technicians that are there presently don't even know that it is a cloning experiment. For all they know, the fetus was removed from the mother's body early in the pregnancy as part of an artificial womb experiment, or something such."   
  
"So, to their knowledge, he could be anybodies child?" the thought simultaneously reassured her and dismayed her.   
"Heck, Starling, they might even think you are the real mother, or the donor, or something.... being that you are the one who's taking him home."  
His tone turned unmistakable bitter.   
"Somehow, I think this was the _fall-back plan_ that they had in place from the start. _If things go wrong, we fall back on Starling._" He raised his voice slightly, "I want you to know right now, that I didn''t participate in the planning. That I would have opposed this project with all I've got."

_"He's beginning to see the light_," she though sarcastically, then nodded to acknowledge his statement.   
"Regarding the people at the lab, Mr. Pearsall, do you suppose they have been sworn to secrecy, or there is a chance that they'll call the Tattler as soon as I walk out the door?"   
  
"I have no doubt that they have all been sworn to secrecy and, perhaps had to sign confidentiality agreements before they were even allowed in the program. I wouldn't worry about that." His tone still carried a bitter undertone  
  
"Well, someone leaked enough information to resulted in the termination of the program." Clarice commented.  
  
"You have a point there, Starling, and when it comes to the details of that leak, your guess is as good as mine."   
  
Clint Pearsall paused for a few minutes as if mulling over his thoughts.   
"I'm a family man, Starling. I don't know if you are aware, but I have three children of my own and I would be devastated if anything happened to any of them." He briefly took his eyes off the road to glance at her.   
"If I was you, I'd take that baby, move as far from here as possible, and never look back. Move abroad, somewhere where neither of you can be traced, and make a new life there."   
  
She nodded in agreement. "Point taken, Mr. Pearsall, I have been planning along those lines."   
Pearsall continued as if on a roll. He almost appeared as someone who had been forces to chose sides and his choice was Clarice's.  
"I might go as far as to say that at this point, nobody at the bureau wants to consider the possibility that Lecter survived that dreadful night at the Chesapeake. However, if a few years down the road the boy becomes unruly, you might want to find if Lecter survived; and if he did, see if he wants to help you straighten up the kid. I'm certain that nobody in the Bureau would care one way or the other, as long as nobody can trace the boy back to them." He smiled "if you ever repeat what I just told you I'll deny I ever said it!  
  
"Understood," Starling said, and smiled. Suddenly things were getting too comfortable. And too much comfort felt uncomfortable in her circle.  
  
Upon arrival to the facility they were escorted to the basement, to a foyer of sorts, furnished with a few chairs and a table with magazines, a water cooler and a Coke machine.   
"You go in, Starling, I'll wait for you here." He loosened his tie and unbuttoned the collar of his shirt. "Like I said, the least I knew about this matter, the better off I'll be."  
  
He accompanied her to a doorway and pressed a button, not unlike that to summon an elevator, then turned around and walked toward the Coke machine.   
  
A light above the door blinked and a door opened. A small, chubby woman in a white lab coat greeted her with an outstretched hand.   
"I'm Janice Duncan, I sort of run what's left of the Lab here. Please come in. I take it you are Clarice Starling, right?   
Clarice nodded quietly, while almost imperceptibly, glanced at the name plate pinned to the woman's lab coat, it read Dr. J. Duncan, MD. She shook the woman's hand , "please call me Clarice."  
  
"This way, please, Clarice. All the women here are a bit in love with the little fellow, they hate to see him go."   
"Everyone knew I was coming?" Clarice was startled.   
"Well, we didn't know about this visit until this morning. And only one other person here knows of your identity." She made a pause and tuned to looks at another woman who was entering the room.   
The woman nodded at Dr Duncan and walked straight to Clarice with an outstretched hand and a warm expression on her face.   
"Starling, is great to see you again, I don't know if you remember me..." Clarice reached for the woman's hand, recognizing her immediately, she even remembered her name, otherwise clearly displayed on the woman's name tag: Dr. A. Benning, PhD.

"A. Benning," Clarice said warmly, "nice to see you here." then turned to Duncan. "We know each other professionally." She muttered; and felt silly as soon as the words left her mouth.   
Benning looked at Duncan who gestured for her to proceed.   
"Let me show you to the incubator. I bet you can't wait to see him."   
_"In more ways than one"_ Clarice thought to herself   
  
"He is adorable, Starling, wait till you see him. It'll be love at first sight" The woman's enthusiasm was contagious and it helped lift her sense of dread.  
  
The incubator, or artificial womb was in the center of the room, supported by a hinged bracket.   
It consisted, basically, of large jar with a cover the same diameter as the jar. One of the sides of the Jar was flat, as if originally it might had laid on the flat side; the rest was rounded.   
Innumerable tubes were inserted through the cover, one apparently an artificial umbilical cord, attached on one end to the baby's navel and the other to several bottles standing beside the Incubator. Several thermometers and a variety of other elements were all attached through the cover by self sealing plugs.   
Inside the amniotic fluid floated a small, full term baby, with abundant black hair and beautiful, soft features. He looked very peaceful and almost angelic. As most infants he kept his hands at eye level; the middle finger of his tiny left hand was perfectly replicated in the rarest form of polydactyly.   
The entire scene tugged at her heart. Clarice Starling felt a shiver run through her as she realized she was in presence of a yet unborn Hannibal Lecter.   
_"This is madness,"_ she thought.  
  
Janice Duncan smiled and commented,   
"He is beautiful, isn't he?" Then proceeded to explain further   
"Is dark inside the jar, you know? We can see him from the outside, but on his side is dark as in a real womb."   
Clarice Starling was silent for a moment, while she allowed herself to really look at the baby. Then quietly she turned to Duncan and smiled softly.   
"He is beautiful, he looks so peaceful...like a doll" there was genuine wonder in her voice. "When will he be born?"   
Benning hurried to answer,   
"The day after tomorrow, early afternoon; you will be here for the birth, right?"   
  
"You can bet on that, A. Benning. I don't want him to be out of my sight for one second after he leaves that bottle. Not for ONE second!" Clarice was rather emphatic, and the two doctors smiled with understanding.   
"I don't blame you." Duncan said.  
"Has anyone been able to touch him or physically reach him while he was in the incubator?" Clarice knew that her question sounded odd, even to her own ears, but she was privately afraid that they would insert a surveillance device under the baby skin or under his scalp or something to keep track of their whereabouts.   
_"Do you plan to bring him to me, Clarice? Said the voice that resided in her head from the start, "Could we, do you think, become the happy family we both ached for all our lives, Clarice?"_   
_"Shut up!"_ She responded mentally, mildly annoyed by the intrusion, and tried to concentrate on the answer to her question.  
"After he was set in there," A. Benning explained, pointing at the in artificial womb, "nobody could reach inside manually, it would disturb the PH inside levels inside the womb, and that could be lethal. In fact it was one of the factors that made the whole project so susceptible to failure."   
She smiled triumphantly, pointing toward the baby, "yet...there he is, in all his glory, ready to come out and _take on the world_!"   
  
_"Take on the world, indeed! How well put, don't you think, Clarice" _she decided to ignore his persistent meddling.

"I will be taking him home the day after tomorrow, then" it was both a question and a statement.   
This time Duncan responded,  
"We were informed that you are rather in a hurry to take him with you, and frankly I don't blame you. So, while we would prefer to keep him here for observation, the consensus is that you can take him after the examination and approval of the pediatrician."   
  
"I want to be present during the examination. Once he is born, I don't want him out of my sight for one second." She was firm and sounded a little anxious.   
  
"That will be arranged, Starling." Benning placed a hand on Clarice forearm as if to reassure her.   
"In fact," she said, "it sounds like a good idea, this way you can ask all the questions that come to mind."   
"The doctors are certain that he is a perfectly healthy baby as far as they can ascertain" Duncan explained, "But he has not yet been in contact with the "outside world." He still has to be born." she smiled again at Clarice, and handed her a piece of paper.   
  
"I have made a list for you of the immediate items he'll need, such the formula he should be fed, and diapers and a few instructions for a head start. Also you'll find that a computer is an indispensable tool when you are stranded at home with a newborn, you can shop on line for groceries, formula, diapers, and most of the basics, and stores like BabiesR'us will deliver to your doorstep in a heartbeat."   
"Oh," she added, as a second thought. "We need to know what you want to name him. The birth certificate will be ready when you take him home." She chucked. "Someone has pushed certain buttons with the department of records."   
"I though the time of birth had to be recorded at birth" said Clarice, immediately regretting her big moth.   
The other woman chuckled. "Yes, I guess for horoscope purposes it will be a little muddled, but this is not an ordinary birth, nor is he an ordinary baby."   
  
She extended her hands as if to indicate that the matter was out of her hands. "The powers that be want you walk out of here with a birth certificate."   
"Adam, his name is Adam." Starling said without hesitation, "the first man...made by God."   
"No middle name?" Benning piped in; and Clarice responded only with a weak, if warm smile, as if to say it was enough that she come up with a name on the fly. Thought she had been tossing names since she left Tunberry's office.   
Janice Duncan smiled, "never mind, I believe you have three month to modify the birth certificate, should you want to."   
It was a done deal, Starling smiled back at the women to reassure them –and herself, that everything was fine.   
Then she walked around the artificial womb, checking out the setup.   
"What is this?" she said pointing at rather large, black rubber suction cups attached to opposite sides of the Incubator.   
"They are speakers; one imitates the sound of the mother's heartbeat. The others are optional but _we_ believe they are must." Duncan said, giving Benning a conspiratorial look "through them we can play music and voices, we recorded several children stories for him so he grows accustomed to the human voice, as he would inside his mother's womb."

Clarice felt her eyes moisten and the three women looked in different directions as if ashamed of their motherly feelings for the infant.   
"He is a quiet baby," commented Duncan, as in restrospect. "we analyzed the amniotic fluid endless times and he's perfectly normal. So we concluded that he possess great calm, still qualities. Even for an fetus he is oddly composed."   
"He loves music," added A Benning, "specially Barroque, when we play it for him, he uncurls off the fetal position and just floats there like an angel."   
  
Clarice smiled, rather mysteriously and commented "Somehow, I'm nor surprised."   
She thanked the woman and went on asking questions about the many unfamiliar items in the room.

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Please comment. If I made any errors, or mispelled something tell me and I'll give the spellchecker a couple of lashes.


	4. Someone's Watching

_The characters that you recognize, belong to the genius of Thomas Harris, and are used here with admiration and not for profit_  
Again, thanks for reading this fiction, especially to those who took the time to comment.  
I'm away from home this weekend, in an effort to get this chapter to you ASAP, I'm posting it unedited and un-spell checked [the spell module is not loaded in this computer.]  
  
_**Adam, Chapter 3**_**_  
__Someone's Watching_**  
  
Clarice and Pearsall walked back to the car in silence, once he started the engine, Pearsall asked,  
"How does he look to you, Starling?" Pearsall was rarely prone to chat, and seemed genuinely concerned about her impression.  
"He is very cute, Mr. Pearsall, I don't know anything about infants, but he seems to be tiny for a full term baby."  
  
"Dr Lecter was not a big man, Starling" commented Pearsall, and the past tense felt like a slap on her face…_Did they really think he was dead?...did they know something that she didn't?_  
  
Clarice felt a painful knot in her stomach, but was not about to ask any questions. Pearsall continued,  
"I wouldn't worry too much about his birth weight, he must at least 5 lbs, because that's standard "take home" weight; they grow just fine on this side; once they are born, that is."  
  
"I'd like to stop and buy some baby books, Mr. Pearsall; I want to read ahead, to make sure I'm up to par. I never dealt with newborn before."  
  
"Great idea, I'm sure you'll be fine, as a father of three, I can tell you babies are rather sturdy, and have survived inexperienced mothers from the beginning of time; just look out the window, and remember that everyone you see was a baby once. Heck! Even Hannibal Lecter and Hitler were somebody's baby boys. So, by all means read the books, then rest reassured that you are perfectly capable to care for an infant. Common sense always does the trick and you have plenty of that."  
  
Their next stop them was Barnes and Noble, where she bought several infant care books, including the seemingly outdated one by Dr. Spock.  
From there they drove to the rented house in Alexandria, a three-bedroom, one level cottage, in a lovely, quiet area surrounded by woods, totally secluded, and prettier by far than the brownstone she shared with Ardelia. In addition to the bedrooms, there was a living room/dinning room and an ample kitchen that opened to a large Family Room.   
One of the bedrooms was now the nursery. It was furnished with crib, a bassinet, a changing table, a dresser, all the kinds of baby paraphernalia, mobiles, lamps and decorations that matched the bumper and comforter set in the crib.  
  
The kitchen was equipped with a variety of items she was not familiar with but assumed some were used to sterilize the nipples and rings and another was a baby monitor. There were boxes and boxes of formula and disposable diapers, and a variety of boxes containing nursery items.  
A huge box, already opened that contained something called a Travel System, which at closer inspection turned out to be a fancy stroller with an additional module to hook up the infant/car seat to either the stroller or the included "stay in the car" base.   
Inside the huge box there were several others boxes, obviously containing different parts of the unit, Clarice looked for the one that contained the infant/car-seat and base module; she wanted to take it with her, so she could set the base in the mustang and learn how to hook up and remove the seat with ease.  
  
Before they left she picked up the phone receiver and noticed that the line was dead. There was no cable box either.   
She brought up the issue with Pearsall, adding that if the Bureau wanted to keep her whereabouts secret then it would be best it they made arrangements to have the phone and cable lines connected using a Bureau account that couldn't be traced back to her.  
"I'll need a cable modem connection from the cable box as well." She added, knowing, that he would not argue.  
Pearsall called immediately from his own cell phone and made the arrangement,  
"The phone will be switched on directly from the main." He announced, "And the cable people will be here tomorrow between 8 and 10 AM to connect the lines."  
  
When they arrived back to FBI Building, Pearsall, helped her move her items to the mustang, and they shook hands. Starling had the uncanny impression that they might not see each other again.  
  
"Good luck, Starling. You made the right choice. I think." He sounded uncharacteristically emotional. "Your resignation will not be effective until tomorrow night, I'll be out of town but I expect Mr. Noonan will want you to drop off your weapons and ID by his office tomorrow and sign your resignation before you leave your office. We'll send our movers to the Townhouse to finish packing up your stuff and bring it back to the cottage. You don't have to go to the office until later on tomorrow to pick up your stuff and drop the ID and paraphernalia. Don't forget the decoder cell phone."  
  
"Thanks Mr. Pearsall, it'll do. And good luck to you too." She meant it.  
  
On her way back, in an impulse and while she still had her ID, she stopped and bought an automatic weapon not unlike the one she carried daily and small pistol. She didn't want to be unprepared.  
Next she drove to Union Station. Parked the car, and there, from one of the Public Phones called the numbers of the Swiss banks, verified the amounts in the accounts and changed the passwords.   
There was no way she was going to do that from her home phone, even after she had sweep it for bugs endless times, for all she knew they could have planted a bug on her home phone right that very morning.   
  
Then she went to a branch of her bank and used the ATM to transfer all her savings into her checking account, then went to the teller in person, and withdrew almost the entire contents of the checking account, leaving just a nominal amount so the account would remain open.  
  
On her way home then, she stopped at BabiesRus and picked up two baby carriers, size small; the kind that strap to the mother's body and the baby fits snugly against her chest, she bought a variety of whimsical toiletry items, some mobiles and other toys with baby safe mirrors which she found interesting. She picked up two entire layettes and endless additional items of newborn clothing that she found irresistible, and a little hat for him to wear on his way home from the lab. Clarice Starling was somewhat awed by everything she saw. Altogether she left with five bags of assorted items in addition to the carriers.  
  
Once in the Townhouse, she took her own laptop out of the closet, where it had been practically since she bought it; in what she considered an inexplicable whim, considering that she used mostly the one issued to her by the FBI equipped with all the sophisticated features provided by the Bureau.   
She had used hers only a few times, and now was glad to have it. It was equipped with a wireless network adapter card and dial up modem that she had configured both when she first got it.  
  
From her own laptop, she went in the Internet to shop for a Swiss bank where she could set up a new numbered account. Once she did, she would transfer there half of the funds in the two original account, as a preventive measure in the event that they had managed a loophole through which they could siphon out the funds in the event that "something" happened to her.  
Once she found a Financial Institution with a long history of reliability and confidentiality, she opened a _numbered_ account with the minimum $50.000 which she transferred from one of the equally anonymous accounts set up for her by the Bureau.  
That done, all she had to do was wait the required 24 hours before the account was active and she could then transfer more funds. She had them hold the Debit card for now. She had yet to find an address where she wanted them to mail it.  
  
That done, Clarice, took the Travel System out of the box, and carefully read the instructions. The car seat had a base that needed to be set up and attached to the car, and the baby carrier/infant car seat would then lock on to it. Then she took the whole paraphernalia to her car and started the installation.  
_"I might need an SUV of a Minivan,"_ she thought to herself, immediately rejecting the thought of a Minivan, in favor of an SUV. _"The Mustang won't do anymore. I need something with more room for "baby stuff" and easier access to get him in and out."_   
She finished the installation and checked that the _stay in the car_ base was firmly set, then locked the seat onto it and practiced removing it and replacing it back on the be base.  
She decided that she was as set as she'll ever be.  
  
So involved was she in the preparations, that she failed to notice that she was being closely observed by a bearded man, quietly watching from inside a car parked at a short distance across the street.

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to be continued


	5. Chapter 4 Lecter

_The characters still belong to TH, and all disclaimers apply._

I hope you enjoy this chapter and the arrival of the GD.

**_Chapter 4  
Lecter_**

Exactly one week after the surprising call from Margot Verger, Dr. Hannibal Lecter completed all the arrangement that he needed to return safely to the US, including the rental of several houses and two sets of passports for himself, Clarice and an infant boy.

He returned via Cathay Pacific Airlines and carried a large amount of cash skillfully strapped to his body. He chose to fly from Hong Kong to Vancouver, and entered Canada with a US passport that identified him as Dr Hendel Larson, MD. When asked, he declared he specialized in DNA research.

In Canada he rented a car and drove to San Francisco, then flew to Lexington Kentucky for an overnight visit with an _old friend. _The next day he flew to Washington CD.

Upon his arrival to Washington, he was picked up by the complimentary car from the Radisson Plaza at Mark Center where he had reservations for the first day of his stay. The hotel, while first class, was one where he could maintain a low profile and it was located just 10 minutes from National Airport, which served is purposes.

As soon as he changed his clothes he treated himself to the pleasure of shopping. His first stop was at a car dealer, where he purchased a "previously owned, dealer certified" vehicle. While his preference was a luxury car, he refrained for the occasion and instead, picked up an indistinctive SUV, a Ford Expedition this time, silver-gray in color with plenty of room in the back for paraphernalia.

Once in possession of his vehicle he had a quick lunch; then drove to the Springfield Mall, there his first stop was at Chesapeake Knife & Tool where he picked up a few of his favorite Spyderco knives and some field glasses. Thus armed, he began to feel at home again. His next stop was at Sprint where he secured and activated two cell phones with hands free kits and additional portable car chargers, placed one phone in his pocket and kept the other in a box for the purpose he intended.  
The proceeded to Linen's and Things where he purchased four sets of 100% Egyptian cotton sheets, in pure white -two for each of the double beds, and several sets of their best quality towels as well as a variety of bathroom furnishings.

He drove to Williams Sonoma at the Fair Oaks Mall for his pans, knives, and kitchen utensils. He was surprised to see they now carried a full line of Reidel glasses and from the Someliar line, brought four of each Montrachet and Burgandi , for the water glass he had to buy Riedel Vinum because they didn't have it in the Somalier line, the lines both had the same look, the quality, however was different, but the doctor reasoned that water is water regardless and the glasses would do. He bought Linen Napkins and placemats, kitchen towels, pot holders, and a variety of other kitchen furnishings.

He couldn't bring himself to buy any of their dishes or flatware because even for everyday they didn't meet his expectations, but he had still plenty of shopping to do, so he went to Macy's and purchased 4 sets of Gorham "Studio" Stainless Flatware and after delicate consideration, 4 place sets of Wedgwood "Oberon" fine china, one serving dish, 3 soup bowls and a service set.

Satisfied with the domestic furnishings, he turned his attention to other immediate needs for the next few days. He went to the woman's department and bought assorted items of silk underwear.  
As he predicted, the woman at the register was totally uninterested in the nature of the purchases.

None of the distinctive clothing he favored would do for the lifestyle he planned for the next few weeks, where, in fact, the main goal was to look indistinctive.  
He scanned the mall directory and headed for the Gap, there from the woman's section he picked two pair of clean cut khakis size 2, a few "favorite T" shirts in various colors and one crossover V neck dress. The clothes seemed abominable to him, but he was aware this is what _America_ wore everyday and what would make them "blend".  
Then he moved on to the men's department and picked similar abominations for himself and a thick terry robe. As an afterthought he picked two pair of female pajama bottoms and matching tops, a pair of shorts with a waist string that could be used for jogging, a small terry robe -the only item he found acceptable, and a pair of sleepers.

In contrast with the salesperson at Macy's this one was helpful an alert. While she was checking the items she asked him if he needed a gift receipt.

"I don't know," he responded, intentionally looking somewhat bewildered, "the airline lost our luggage three days ago, I guess I'll need a receipt to get our money back."

"Then I better give you a gift receipt as well, in case you want to exchange some of the items"

"Thank you, good thinking!" he responded,

He drove back to the hotel, took short nap and a long shower, and then drove to the house he had leased from Hong Kong through a Virginia Real State Agent.  
The house, about 40 miles from DC in suburban Virginia, was just as he had expected and suited his purposes remarkably well.  
A medium size cottage with slate roof and a wraparound porch nestled among woods in the middle of an 8.5 acre property completely hidden from view, fully fenced and accessible only through a winding road from the main entrance. It had a total of 4 bedrooms, 2 full and 2 half bath, a living room, a family room and a huge eat in kitchen with an a decent stove and a work island, a laundry room adjacent to the kitchen, plus a full size finished basement, satellite dish, with satellite Internet access, and ample privacy.

Once he verified that everything was working, the water running and the whole house ready for occupancy, and confirmed that, as per his request the phone had been connected, he checked on the phone book for the nearest UPS Store, drove there and under another bogus name backed up by an equally bogus driver's license credible enough to stand a background check, he opened one of their mailboxes complete with a mail address and 24hr access. That done, he drove towards the Townhouse at 337 Tidal, in Arlington Virginia, parked reasonably near and waited.

Back in the Townhouse, Clarice Starling was considering her next move. After she set the baby seat base in her car, she went back in the townhouse and fought her craving for a glass of Jack Daniels, ultimately common sense prevailed and she poured herself a cup of tea instead; then began to read one of her baby care books.

Half way into the first book, she finally accepted the fact that she would better concentrate after she dealt with the one subject that never left the confines of her consciousness: _Dr. Hannibal Lecter_.

If she had any regrets, and she definitely did, they mostly concerned her attitude towards him at the kitchen at the Chesapeake, especially after he asked his "famous" question.  
As she did innumerable times before, she regretted her choice of word in her answer, and wondered as to the nature of her own motive when she handcuffed herself to him.

She had screwed up. Plain and simple.

In her stubborn failure to acknowledge corruption within the Bureau, she had failed to appreciate the fact that HE was the only one who actually gave a dam about her. Now he was gone…forever… and she wanted him back.  
The only one man she had ever been attracted to in the real sense of the word…The only person she could fully trust; and she had managed to simultaneously reject him and place him in a position where he had to mutilate himself rather than hurting her.

_"Good going, Starling,"_ she chuckled bitterly, _"now, you'll get him back in infant form…"_

Not only was she convinced that the doctor would not come back to her, she also suspected that she was under some kind of surveillance and IF he did show up, _they'd_ be on him like mold on cheese.

"S_o little faith in me, Clarice_," said the voice that lived inside her head, "_after all this years, you still don't trust my ability to avoid capture?"_

_"I just hope you still have the knack!_" she responded mentally.

She feared that he would not come and she feared he'd come and get captured; she knew it was a lose/lose situation and it was tearing her apart.

Eventually, her practical side took over, and she tried to concentrate in the issues at hand; specifically, her lack of baby skills and her constant concern that the new house might be wired for surveillance. She was confident that they wouldn't be stupid enough to bug her home, knowing fully well that she was one of their best surveillance expert and could easily find and deactivate the devices, whatever they could be, but still…

Clarice felt that Barney was her trump card, the one to use if she needed help with the baby, or ultimately to attempt to contact Dr Lecter if she so decided. And then she went full circle, concerned that the Bureau had thought about that first and the baby was a ploy to lure Lecter back.

Her first impulse had been to take the child, jump on a plane and fly to some yet unknown destination where she could hide him and raise him with some semblance of normality, but, thanks to the book she was reading, she found that that it is customary to keep newborns away from crowds until they are one to three months old, to give their immune system time to adjust. This baby, didn't even had his mother's immunity to protect him, …he had no mother.

"Poor little baby" she though, "he is the real innocent victim of the whole mess."

She forced herself to get back to the book, the more she learned, the more she would relax and be more attentive to any nuance that might insinuate danger.

Dr Hannibal Lecter held his breath when he saw Clarice for the first time since the Chesapeake. She had not changed, aside from being a little thinner and her hair a little shorter. His suspicions regarding the information received from Margot were confirmed when he saw her get off the car with the bags from BabiesRUs, she went in the house and came back out again for a huge brown box in the trunk. The immediacy of the upcoming event became more evident a while later when she came out again to install the base for the infant car seat on the back seat of the mustang.

"_This IS the aforementioned plan B_," he said to himself, recalling the conversation with Margot, _"they are about to victimize her again. As they will the child, who is not even human in their eyes."_

Yet, he was pleased, now he could go on with his preparations, he will come back early in the morning and continue his surveillance. He needed a good nights rest to be ready for the exciting new day. With that though he began his drive back "home"

At 7 AM, Clarice was on her way to the rented cottage, while, totally unnoticed, Dr. Lecter followed behind. He was not ready yet to make his presence known, he wanted to give her a few days with the child while he observed her attitude towards the whole fiasco, he enjoyed anticipating her reaction when he finally made his appearance, and wondered if she was finally ready to face her feelings.

Clarice parked in the small clearing beside the house and removed three BabiesRus bags from the small trunk of the mustang along with a medium size, well worn carboard box containing the CPM-700, a surveillance sweep device that has long "lived in her trunk" a reminder of her assignments as a surveillance expert.   
The CPM-700 would detect hidden telephone, room or body surveillance devices [bugs], remote signals, computer, fax and telex transmitters, video transmitters, pulsed tracking transmitters and even wide band frequency hopping of "burst" bugs.

_"Is this gizmo 100 accurate?...Technically yes,"_ she chuckeld answering her own question_, "not accurate enough for my peace of mind, but otherwise good enough for the bureau."_

Eventually, she went out and swept inside her car as well and seemed pleased with the results. About 11:30, she called the Cable Company to inquire about the whereabouts of the service man, and was told there had been a short delay and the man would be there momentarily. Fifteen minutes later she saw the Cable man come in and install the cables; he then rang the doorbell and asked where she wanted to cables to come in and gave her the cable box. After he was gone she came out again to get her laptop from the car and went back inside.

Dr. Hannibal Lecter concluded that it was obvious from her actions that she was suspicious of her own superiors. She was beginning to see them for the fraud they were.

For a while, he was undecided as to whether to continue to wait outside the house or go and finish his errands in preparation for "D day". After some inner deliberations he decided for the later and drove back to his new home, went to a local bank and opened a checking account using the same name and identity he had used to secure the UPS box and other such rentals, which was different from the identity used to the lease of the house.   
He deposited a few several thousand dollars in the account and was promised he would get a debit card/credit card in the mail in two days. Of course the card would go to the UPS address and that pleased him. His arrangements were well in place

He had not been happy with some of the items he had chosen for Clarice and decided to drive to Baltimore, his own former home ground, where he was sure he'd find finer silk undergarments. While in Baltimore he would treat himself to dinner in a discreet but excellent restaurant. He also planned to get a few bottles of D'Yquem and some of Montrachet. With a little luck they would have something to celebrate.

With celebrations in mind, he wondered if the "good guys" at the Bureau had truthfully explained to Clarice the chances of survival of the baby she was about to receive.  
Surely, even in her state of astonished bewilderment she might realize this was the first human clone of record and there were no statistics or data regarding the expectations of survival rate, complications, or immunity issues

She was taking home a human guinea pig in the shape of a tiny newborn entirely made up to his own image.

"I wonder what she'll name him." He said to himself. In one the baby passports that the Doctor had secured for the infant, the name appeared as Adam Larson, it had seemed appropriate to him to name him Adam, _made by God_. What else could one name a child not born of human parents? In the other passport the child's name was Emmanuel, for equally symbolic reasons. He smiled at the memory of the fun he had finding a photo of a newborn that looked dark and indistinctive to use in the passport

And _they_ call _me_ a monster?" he sighed

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Comments are enthusiastically welcomed...  
I hope you enjoyed the chapter.


	6. Chapter 5 Going Home

_All the characters you recognize belong to TH. No profit is intended. But I'm having a lot of fun...which is indeed, priceless._

I want to thank again, those of you who took the time to read this chapters, specially the ones commented.  
Please let me know if you think the chapters are too long, maybe I can split them and make two chapters out of one long one. Anyway here we go.

_Chapter 5  
Going Home_

After it was apparent that the little rented house had not _yet_ been set for surveillance, Clarice gave it a full inspection, moving things around to suit her needs.  
She wanted the baby to sleep in her room during the first weeks or even months, so she brought the bassinet to the master bedroom and set it up beside the side of the bed she tended to favor.   
Thus done, she unpacked some of the items she had purchased the day before and began to set them up.  
She had picked up some toys that she though would serve a dual purpose. They all consisted of a variety of shapes made of baby safe mirrors framed with soft cushioned fabric of colorful patterns. Clarice distributed the mirrored hanging and stationary toys everywhere around the room, hence giving herself the chance to see the doorway while she had her back to it.

In addition to the dangling mirrors, the mobile that she attached to the bassinet had a canopy shaped like a carousel with mirrored roof that allowed her ample view of the opposite side of the room. She had purchased three such mobiles in different colors, and attached another to changing table as well.

Then she moved a portable crib to the family room adjacent to the kitchen and attached the third mobile to it. Once she had moved thing around and took care of other safety oriented touches, she surveyed the entire arrangement and felt satisfied with the result.

After lengthy introspection and soul searching, she came to the conclusion that if luck had it that the Doctor would, once again, come half way around the world for her, she was going to make sure to protect him against any possible risk of capture.  
She concluded that in the event that he should pay her an unexpected visit, it was essential to prevent him from speaking a single word inside her house, to avoid the chance of his voice registering in any of the surveillance devices that she was still certain that the Bureau managed to plant around her.

Thus, with a plan well in place anticipating for a much hoped for possible "visit", she decided go to her office, pack the stuff she wanted to take with her, sign her resignation and return her weapons, ID, helmet and vests, her encryption cell phone and shotgun, and conveniently forget to turn over the CPM-700 surveillance sweeper, which had been in her car for so long that she suspected nobody remembered that she had it; after some deliberation she decided to keep the silencer for her gun as well, because it fitted one of her newly purchased weapon and she figured she _migh_t need it.  
Starling was happy that she thought of buying herself two guns the day before and wondered if it would be a good idea to buy a Harpy, following the Doctors example to have an effective, undetected weapon safely hidden in a pocket at all times.  
She made mental note to stop by the Springfield Mall on her way back and get one in Chesapeake Knife & Tool.

Thus, Starling went to her office for the last time; there she packed _everything Lecter_ that she could take without breaking the law, not because of its finatial value, but because, she plainly wanted to take everything that reminded her of him.  
_"You'll have plenty to remind you of him, you fool" _she thought_ "Tomorrow you'll have him in baby form, and probably for as long as you live –which might not be long for all you know."  
_Still that was not enough, she wanted _them_ to have as little of the Doctor as possible. With that thought in mind, Clarice shredded all of the information she had compiled that might lead _them_ to him. Only when she was certain to have covered all traces of her most revealing leads did she leave her office, took her possessions and closed the door behind her for the last time.

After placing the boxes in the car, she went to Mr Noonan's office and in just five minutes severed her ties with the institution that meant everything to her for almost a decade.

On her way home she was tempted to buy a bottle of Jack Daniels but refrained, instead, she treated herself to a new light robe, in anticipations for the night feedings, and another baby book "What to expect in the first Year". Once in the car, she wondered as to the usefulness of such a book, being that she expected that the baby version of Hannibal Lecter would be characteristically atypical, even on the first year. The thought made her smile.

Doctor Lecter arrived back to his new home just in time for the six O'clock news. He poured himself a glass of wine, turned on the small TV that he kept in the kitchen and began to prepare his dinner. The announcement of Starling's resignation was part of the local news, a brief blurb stating that Special Agent Clarice Starling, who had her 15 minutes of fame twice in association with the infamous Dr. Hannibal "the Cannibal" Lecter, had resigned from the Bureau for personal reasons and planned to retire to private life.

"Definitely _Plan B_" he declared aloud. Then congratulated himself for his perception and made a mental note to call Margot after his meal.  
He planned to be up bright and early the next morning and further follow Clarice.

The conversation with Margot was short and to the point.  
"Hello Margot. I hope you are doing well"  
  
"Is good to hear you too, when did you arrive?" Margot was not prone to small talk.  
  
"Yesterday and I have accomplished much. Plan B is definitely in effect and consists of what I suspected. Have you heard anything regarding the safety of both parties involved?"  
  
"Not a word. But I suspect they won't be safe past the first week, and that they will be under some kind of surveillance."  
The Doctor enjoyed her succinctness, and silently waited for her to continue  
  
"I'm curious about the money. The Project was granted 2 billion, based on the claim by Tunberry that this was _the_ research program that would revolutionize the field of criminal profiling. Apparently he never mentioned the real activities of the research. I wonder how much did they actually gave _your friend_ to save their collective asses and how do they plan to recover it after they kill her and the baby?"

"There is not going to be any killing, Margot" he declared firmly, "…well none as they planned anyway." he added chuckling, in as an afterthought.

On the last night she spent in the townhouse that had been her home for the last 10 years, Clarice Starling had difficulty sleeping,

Her mind was on overdrive, reviewing her last peripatetic meeting with the Doctor, and promising herself for the millionth time that if he did show up again, she would just give in to her feelings for him and let him led them to safety.

_"How odd,"_ she reflected, _"to think of Hannibal Lecter as a source of safety."_

She worried about the upcoming birth, and wished it was all over and she had the infant safely home, thus finally able to start a _new life_.

For the hundredth time, Clarice reviewed the preparations she had made for the baby's homecoming. And finally fell asleep, exhausted, just three hours before she was due to get up.

At 7AM, at the first ring of the alarm, she jumped out of bed, and after a quick shower, towel dried her hair and carefully checked the list of the things she wanted to bring with her. The baby's outfit, her newly acquired guns and Harpy, and a bag she had packed with bare necessities, her laptop and the stroller and car seat. She was confident that the rest of her meager possessions would be delivered the next day by the movers.

She had spent some time the night before carefully reading the instructions to assemble the stroller and the matting of the baby/car seat, which was part of the stroller as well, then she practiced the process of folding and unfolding it, as well as locking the car/infant seat on to the stroller and releasing it, then learned that the same procedure applied to attach it to the car base already installed in the mustang. It took her two trips to get everything in her car.

By 9:30 AM she was on her way.

At the distance, Dr Hannibal Lecter followed.

Once in the lab, Clarice was assaulted by all kinds of fears. This was the first time in 9 years that she was fully independent from the Bureau, and with the sense of liberation came also a sense of dread. She was not even certain she knew how to act as a civilian or even to think like one.

Duncan and A. Benning were there to receive her. They brought her to a sort of break room, where they introduced the few remaining scientist involved in the project. They all greeted her warmly and commented how the entire project was going to be dismantled immediately after the birth and they had all been ordered to forget that it had ever existed.

"You and the baby are the only remaining evidence" said one of the scientists, and Clarice felt an increased sense of doom. She smiled and said nothing.  
After coffee and rolls, which seemed to be the fare of their daily morning brakes, they all moved to the Lab proper, and began the procedure that would lead to the birth. It was a little past eleven in the morning.

A matted, rolling table was brought in and hooked up to another that had a large tub connected by a hose to one of the drains on the floor of the lab.  
The bracket the held the incubator was swiveled so that the incubator laid in a horizontal position now, slightly tilted further toward the cover where all the hoses were connected.

The technician in charge stepped back then, and announced that they had to leave the incubator in that position for a few minutes, to compel the baby's head toward the cover in a semblance of the traditional 'engagement of the head' in a traditional birth.

"Why don't we take the opportunity for you to meet the pediatrician, and ask your questions?" suggested A. Benning

During the walk toward an adjacent room, A. Benning took a thick envelop from her pocket and covertly handed it to Clarice.

"Put this in your bag, Starling, you need to read this, all what you need to know is there, this is important." She spoke urgently, and Clarice nodded and swiftly placed the item in her bag.

They entered a room then were they were joined by a heavy man on his 50's wearing thick glasses and a lab coat. His face was jolly and he was apparently prone to smile. He extended a chubby but firm hand to Clarice and welcomed her warmly.

"OK, young lady, ask all your questions now, because the powers that be don't want anyone from the program to be involved with this little fellow again. And your future pediatrician cannot not be familiar with our boy's real background."

Clarice's sense of doom increased in proportion to the significance of the pediatrician's statement which was clear and significant enough for her.

"Is there any data as to what to expect here?" she asked feeling like a fish out of the water

"None whatsoever, he is first of his kind. We have no clue as to what to expect. We know he has no maternal immunities. Other babies are nourished from the mothers resources, whereas this baby didn't have that advantage. He had no direct connection whatsoever to the world outside the "bottle", so to speak. The artificial womb we provided doesn't substitute for the real thing.  
You'll have to be constantly aware of that, his survival depends on it.  
Take him to a pediatrician after 2 weeks and have him fully examined.  
We are going to give him a shot Hepatitis B today as customary. He should get another in a month or two, at two month he will get his first DPT which will help a great deal.  
Keep him away from crowds but expose him to fresh air. Dress him up appropriately and let him nap outside, place his pram or infant seat in the shade and don't let the sun ON his skin, ... Fresh air on a sunny day is good for babies; it invigorates them and is good for their lungs. Sunburn is not, be aware of that.

No airplane rides, no malls, no crowds. He needs verbal stimulation, cuddling and bonding. He lacks human contact, the kind that babies get in their mothers womb, so he needs to feel close human contact.

He is small, which means that he will eat less than a bigger baby and more often. Be prepared for a schedule feeding every two or three hours, around the clock. Grab your sleep when you can for the first moth or so. The more he grows the more he'll eat on each feeding and the less frequently."

Clarice was looking at him intently practically holding her breath and he took pity for her.

"You are going to do fine, don't worry. Use common sense and talk to him and hug him close to you. It will be fine."

The birth was simple, first they drained a bit of the liquid from the incubator, making sure the baby's head was still covered with liquid, then they removed the cover, the liquid gushed out and they simultaneously removed the baby.

The rest of the procedure was like that or a normal birth. They did the The Apgar scoring twice and gave him the customary Vitamin K injection. He cried a bit at birth, just enough so they knew his lounges were fine; then scanned his huge maroon eyes across the room.

Followed closely by Clarice, a nurse took him to a tub and proceeded to wash him, which was rather easy because he was not covered by either blood or mucus.  
Clarice asked if she could wash him, but the nurse told her he was rather slippery and Clarice didn't want to pursue it.

Once he was clean, the nurse wrapped him up in a towel and gave him to Clarice, she then motioned them to a padded table and asked Clarice if she had brought up baby clothes.  
Clarice pointed to a small shopping bag that she had just place on a chair alongside her -_duly zippered_ handbag.

Seeing that Clarice was not about to leave the babies side, the nurse turned toward the chair and brought over the shopping bag, while the pediatrician approached the table to examine the newborn.

He nodded as he performed the routinely check up and gave the infant the thumbs up.

Clarice then diapered him, feeling that she was all thumbs, then dressed him, placed him carefully in the carrier across her chest and got ready to leave, announcing she had a newborn car seat already installed in the mustang.

The nurse said she would escort her to the car, just in case she need help. They all wished her luck, Clarice thanked them all, specially Duncan and A. Benning, and she was on her way.

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Comments are warmly welcomed.


	7. Chapter 6 Hello, Clarice

_The characters belong to T.Harris. I just borrowed them to expand the endless possibilities._

Thanks for taking the time to read this fiction. Specially those who commented on the contents and responded to my inquiries about the lenght of the chapters.  
I think you are going to enjoy this one.

_Chapter 7  
Hello, Clarice_

The doctor spent two days watching the house. During that time he didn't see anyone else in the vicinity and there was no indication that Clarice was being watched, but like her, he feared that she was under some kind of electronic surveillance, even when her sweeper had indicated otherwise.

At night, he could see her move around the house with the baby snuggled against her, inside the _over the shoulder_ baby carrier, in what appeared to be an effort to provide him with the human contact that he lacked inside the incubator.

Later on, during the late feeding, he would get closer to the windows and observe her talking to the infant while she fed him, occasionally kissing his head and playing with him while she changed him, while she softly nudged his tummy with one finger and cooed.

On the afternoon of the third day, he decided to make his move.

He set up for her cottage at about 4 PM, not concerned about the traffic and listening to a classic station in the car radio, when the News Break bulletin interrupted Hayden's Trumpet Concerto.

"_At about 4:10 Eastern time, a massive car explosion took the life of FBI Section Chief Clint Pearsall. Mr. Pearsall, who was in Kentucky in official capacity, was driving a car assigned to him by the local branch of the Bureau. _

_Local and Federal authorities are investigating the explosion, which appears to have been triggered by a device connected to the ignition system. There are some speculations that the act was in retaliation for the raid on the Feliciano Fish Market less than a year ago, that resulted on the death of Evelda Drumgo, the widow of the late Dijon Drumgo, one of the leaders of the drug distributors net known as the "_Trey-Eight Crips".

_Clarice Starling, who actually pulled the trigger that ended the life Evalda Drumgo, is no longer affiliated with the FBI and possibly a target as well.  
The FBI declined to comment regarding the possibility of providing protection for former Special Agent Starling_

_The Bureau experienced two other losses today when senior DNA investigator Dr. Janice Duncan (36) was the victim of a hit and run driver when she stepped off the curb outside her house in Alexandria. The late Dr. Duncan a mother of three was the wife of Congressman Joseph Duncan of Virginia._

_The third casualty was Dr. Alice Benning, a DNA researcher with a PhD from the University of Maryland, Baltimore. Benning was fatally wounded during an apparent robbery attempt while she walked to her car in the parking lot of a Safeway supermarket in Arlington, and was pronounced dead on arrival at Northern Virginia Community Hospital just two miles from the scene."_

The Doctor's jaw was set in the characteristic slight overbite that he adopted when deep in thought. With his right hand he patted the Harpy in the pocket of his light jacket. He expected some action, and wondered if Clarice was watching the News.

Around 5:20 PM, the Doctor parked his Expedition about three city blocks from the cottage, and walked the distance while he examined the territory for evidence of physical surveillance. It took him only a few minutes to spot the car, parked like his own, amid the trees surrounding Starling's cottage.

It was still light on that evening in early may, and Hannibal Lecter was grateful for the trees that darkened the entire area making it easier for him to move unnoticed.  
He calculated that the two occupants of the car were working the 4 to 12 shift and leaned against a tree waiting for the opportunity to eliminate them one by one.  
He waited for about an hour, with his proverbial calm, until one of the men got off the car and walked into the surrounding wood. The Doctor assessed, correctly, that the man was looking for a spot to relief himself, and he followed.

The rest was easy and the Doctor managed to slit the man's throat, without getting as much as a spot of blood on his jacket.

He didn't want to wait until for the remaining agent to become concerned and report to his central office that he was going in search of his partner, so he decided to approach the issue head on.  
The man was sitting on the passenger seat, window open, reading a porno magazine and drinking coffee from a Styrofoam cup.

"Excuse me sir," Hannibal said in a friendly voice, "there is a fellow indisposed out there in the woods that asked me to fetch you, he seems quite ill."

The man put down his magazine and coffee, nodded in acknowledgment followed the Doctor.  
After a few steps and once completely out of view, Dr. Lecter pointed to the left and calmly said: "this way please", then, turned to face the man and cut his jugular with a fast single swipe of the Harpy; then cleaned the blade against the man jacket and went back to the surveillance vehicle.

The keys were still in the ignition and the Doctor took a rubber glove out of his left pocket and removed the key with his gloved right hand. Then he opened the trunk, examined the contents and once he was satisfied with his interpretation of what he found in there, he got in the car and backed it further into the woods, adjacent to the area were his victims laid.  
Then took the time to place them both back in the car, one behind the driver's seat the other on the passenger seat.

Whistling, he went back to his truck. It was only 7:30PM and almost dark.

When the Doctor reached Starling's new abode, she was feeding Adam, sitting in what had become her "feeding chair" in the family room, Dr. Lecter took the opportunity to enter through the back door, the kitchen door as it were, which he found easy to open, then waited in the unoccupied third bedroom, until she finished feeding and burping the baby.  
Hannibal Lecter had never visualized Clarice as a mother and was touched by the peaceful domesticity of it all, yet not surprised at the way Clarice adjusted to "motherhood".  
From the window he had seen her moving around the house carrying the baby and talking to him, but it was not until he heard her cooing that he was hit by the full impact of her motherly feelings.

Once _burped_, she brought Adam to the nursery to change his diapers, and as it was her routine, she safely strapped him to the changing table. Adam lifted his arms slightly then and she nudged him gently and teased him with soft, loving words. His maroon eyes were fixed on hers, and to her amazement, every time she nudged his stomach he lifted his arms as if to touch her. She giggled and cooed and took off his diaper, disposed of it in the adjacent basket and reached for a new one, which she placed on a corner of the changing table, she cleaned him, diapered him, and slipped him in stretch terry sleeper. Once he was thus dressed, Clarice leaned over that baby's face and cooed, smiling,

"You are so cute! Yes, you are"

The air she exhaled when she cooed took his breath away and he wiggled with delight and blinked giggling, while he inhaled. She laughed and leaned closer still, this time whispering  
"I love you so much!" The baby immediately grabbed hold of her hair and pulled it.   
With her head down, Clarice attempted to release his grip and when she turned her head thus, saw the bearded man reflected in one of the baby proof mirrors of the mobile that she had attached to the changing table.

He was leaning against the door observing them intently. Regardless of his beard, she recognized the eyes that haunted her dreams and felt simultaneously relief and panic. Mostly panic that he would speak and be immediately recognized by people she believed had her under surveillance.  
Her eyes reflected her panic when she turned to him, with one finger urgently across her lips urging him to be silent, and the other hand waving on the air pointing the ceiling and then to her ears and then emphatically moving here finger against her lip, in an effort to warn him that they might be watched and he shouldn't speak.

He lifted his hand to indicate he understood and she breathed out a sight of relief. Then reached out for him with her hand extended, signaling him to approach; when he was close enough she took him by the hand and drew him toward the changing table, pointing at the baby. He nodded while she released the strap, took hold of the baby's left hand and showed it to the Doctor.

He nodded again, ever so slow, to acknowledge that he understood, and she then picked up Adam and pointed toward the door, he nodded. Clarice looked around the room and picked a tiny fleece jacket with a hood and dressed the baby in it.

The Doctor then picked a baby blanket that lay on the rail of the yet unused crib and together they moved toward the front door.

On her way out, Clarice picked up the infant/car seat, but the Doctor stopped and looked alternatively at her and the seat, his head tilted to the side and one eye closed ever so slightly; then with one hand he made a vigorous sweeping motion back and forth across the seat. It was then that Clarice realized the only object she had not swept for surveillance bugs was the baby seat.

She gave the baby to the Doctor and removed the CPM-700 from the closet, turned it on, waved it across the infant seat and the device lit like a Christmas tree. For a moment she was paralyzed, then looked at the Doctor with undisguised admiration, put on her jacket, got the small shopping bag still containing the two weapons she had purchased and showed the contents to the Doctor, he nodded and signaled to bring them along.

She took the weapons out of their boxes and strapped them to her body as she had done for the past 9 years. I took seconds.

She stopped momentarily and pointed to her laptop laying on a table. The Doctor nodded in acknowledgment, gave her the baby, removed two rubber gloves from his pocket and put them on, examined the laptop for less than a minute and nodded with satisfaction, then turned it over and expertly removed the Hard Drive and put it on his jacket pocket, the gloves went back on the pocket as well, and gestured to Clarice to give him back the baby; she picked both her hand bag and the CPM-700 and they walked out the door.

They had not spoken one single word.

The Doctor silently pointed to the direction where he had parked the Expedition and led the way without a word. Then placed his own finger across his lips indicating he was still not certain it was safe to talk; Clarice nodded.

Once they got to the truck he opened the one of the back doors and pointed to the infant car seat, locked into its on base; an arrangement similar to the one she had in the mustang.   
"_He's been doing his homework_," she though.

Gently, he placed the baby in the car seat and strapped him in, verifying that he was securely fastened.  
Then opened the passenger door for Clarice and she got in. He walked then around the truck and took his seat behind the wheel.  
He didn't turn on the engine, instead, turned to Clarice and said softly,  
"I hope I didn't startle you." He smiled.

She was still speechless and slowly shook her head _'no"_ while she reached out for his left hand and examined the reattached thumb.   
In a pensive voice she then said,  
"I'm still afraid that this is in part a ploy to capture you. And I want you to know I am not part of it."  
"I know," he said softly, running his finger on her hand.

"Have you watched the news, Clarice?"  
"Not today," she paused, "something I should know?" she was whispering.  
He nodded and told her about Pearsall and then about J. Duncan, A. Benning whom, due to their area of expertise he figured were somehow connected to the project.  
Clarice listened without a word, her jaw set, while her eyes fixed on his were huge and wheeled with tears.  
Only then she remembered the envelope from A. Benning.  
"Dear God!" she exclaimed still whispering while she rummaged through her bag "A. Benning gave me an envelope during the few minutes we were alone, she told me it was important, she said that _everything I needed to know was there.  
_At the time, I thought they were instructions for baby care," she said as if apologizing, while she continued to dig in her bag, until, triumphantly dug out the envelope and showed it to Lecter, then she opened it, removed a couple of pages and run her eyes quickly over the text.  
"We can't read this here," she announced showing him the papers, "the writing is too tiny, and we are going to need more light, and at this point I guess it can wait until we are safely away from here."  
  
"You are both in great danger, Clarice" he said firmly  
She nodded, while a single tear run down her face. "They are all dead…" she muttered in disbelief.  
The so called _monster_ reached out with his index finger and softly whipped off the tear.  
"I have some evidence that tonight they were going to set your cottage on fire and incinerate the both of you."  
"What?...How do you know?"

He told her about the surveillance car and the men in them and the cans of gasoline he had found in the trunk.

Clarice Starling leaned toward him; when she spoke her tone was professional, yet both urgent and concerned, but not about the men he killed

"Did you leave any fingerprints? Did you touch anything with your bare hands?"

"Nope… used gloves"

Clarice sighed with relief, then leaned toward him,

"I need to borrow your gloves and a flashlight, I have to go and check on that car and the bodies out there, we want to know their affiliation, and what type of surveillance and communication equipment did they carry."

He opened the glove compartment and handed her the flashlight, then dug in his pocket for the gloves.

"Do you have any contact weapons, Clarice, a knife …?  
Her Harpy was clipped to the right pocket of her jacket, without removing it she pointed to the clip there.  
"A Civilian?" the Doctor was impressed.  
"No, I followed your example and bought a Harpy." She was all business, "the Civilian is in my bag."

"I would like to accompany you?"  
Clarice pointed to the baby  
"We can't leave him along in the car and it would be too cumbersome to have him there with us."  
"On the way here I purchased an additional sling infant carrier, this one can be worn on the back. I'd rather come with you, Clarice".

Reluctantly, she agreed, for his benefit mostly.  
Together, covertly aided by a small flashlight, they followed the instructions for the sling and ultimately the baby was strapped to the Doctor's back.  
He went back to the car and retrieved another flashlights from the center console.

"You watch my back while I inspect the stuff, it should take about 10 minutes, tops."

She checked the two bodies for Id's and weapons and once satisfied she left everything the way she found it. Then she opnened the trunk and examined the contents, she found a device that she checked thoroughly and then moved along past the cans of gasoline, and found a box of ammunition, she checked the contents and took it with her.

Then she turned to the Doctor.

"I'm through here,"

"Let's get going then."

Once they took their places back in the car, the Doctor turned on the engine and they started their trip _home_.

Clarice didn't ask him where they were going, wherever it was, she was certain it was safe.

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_to be continued...  
_I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please let me know how am I doing.


	8. Chapter 7 Sanctuary

_The characters belong to the genius of T. Harris, though is fun to borrow them from time to time not for profit but for the fun of the adventure_

Thanks to all the wonderful readers who are taking the time to follow this story. And extra thanks to those who took extra time to comment, motivating me to go on.

**_Chapter 7  
_****_Sanctuary_**

Once back in the truck, Clarice began her report.  
"They carried no FBI credentials, but had all kinds of Government issued equipment. The device in the trunk was their surveillance equipment. Apparently the infant seat was fitted with a voice transmitter, and a tracking device, probably not unlike the one that Krendler had set in the mustang after he got me suspended from the Bureau.  
I left everything as it was, except for the ammunition that we can use."

He nodded, turned on the engine, and began to drive toward the highway.  
They were silent for a few minutes, him driving while she looked out the window, deep in thought.

"How did you find out about the baby?"

He kept his eyes on the road

"Margot got a tip from a Congressman _on her payroll _and she contacted me. To his knowledge, your former bosses were tossing the coin between two plans, Plan A was to destroy the fetus outright, and a Plan B, which the Congressman claimed he didn't know in detail, but I suspected was to tap on your motherly feelings, suggest that you resign and adopt the baby, set you with a large amount of money "to raise him". THEN get rid of the both of you in some _accidental fashion, _or whatever they could come up with; thus, killing two birds with one stone, so to speak, while remaining out of the picture.

"If they gave you a large amount of money, and I bet they did, the goal was to convey a feeling of safety for you and the infant, they might have suggested that you disappear and start a new life elsewhere. If it was an _exceedingly large_ sum, then, they probably planned to siphon it back after your demise.  
I believe that they are too deep in hot water to bother trying to catch me during this cleanup job; is hard to say, but either way I took the liberty to make arrangement for your safety."

"Thank you, Doctor" she voiced almost inaudibly.

"I've leased a nice comfortable house about an hour drive from here, I've furnished it with a complete nursery; and purchases some items for your immediate use as well, in anticipation of a situation such as this one."

Clarice nodded and placed her left hand gently on his forearm.  
  
"We are going to need formula, disposable diapers, and a variety of items to prepare for the next feeding." She murmured, suspecting he had that covered.

"I've taken care of that, everything is ready for your arrival."

"I guessed that much," She paused briefly, then added, softly, "the beard looks good… you lost weight, though."

"So did you, Clarice"

"I had time to do a lot of thinking, Doctor Lecter, I have many regrets."

"Nothing that can't be fixed, I hope" he coaxed softly as if encouraging her to go on.

"There is the thumb…" she said tentatively

"That's been taken care of. Is fine now"

"The pain was unnecessary and I'm to blame for it"

"It was my choice, Clarice, and I'm not blaming you." He smiled "Guilt is an entirely useless emotion and waste of time. We can't fix the past. Let's just look ahead instead, and build for a good future, OK?

"Uh hum," she mumbled,

Clarice was emotionally and physically exhausted, still not used to getting up every two or three hours to feed and change the baby; yet, she managed to mumble,  
"They gave us 150 million dollars in two separate Swiss bank accounts" she spoke the figure in awe.

"A drop in the bucket compared to the 2 billion dollars budget they got for the project." He commented dryly. "Did you memorize the account numbers?"

"Two Billion Dollars!....They claimed to have 200 million left from the original budget!...." she paused for just a bit, as if to reorganize her thoughts.  
"Yes Doctor, I memorized them both. I didn't transfer any of it to my checking account, for fear that they'd trace me through my debit card. Instead, went to the Internet, and opened a new Swiss numbered account with _Micheloud & Cie_, I had to wait 24 hours before it was functional, then, yesterday I transferred 70 million into the Micheloud account, they will send me an ATM card as soon as I direct them. At least those 70 are untraceable because of the secrecy issue and the fact that the money was already in Switzerland; hence not an International transfer. As I'm sure you know, Swiss banks don't cooperate with either the Interpol or the FBI unless there is suspicion of money laundering. I was planning to open another type of off shore account for the remaining 80 million.   
"Ah!" she continued triumphantly while she dug around the collar of her T shirt and produced a mini cruiser flash drive hanging from a strap around her neck. "I have all the information right here!"  
She seemed rather pleased withe herself

"Right after I resigned from the Bureau, on the way home, I went to my local bank and withdrew all my savings, which is not much, but enough carry me until I could complete the _Swiss setup._"

"You'll make a very resourceful escapee, Clarice" he smiled a little ruefully.

"I had hoped to create a new identity for both the baby and myself, and then disappear."

"I've got that covered, Clarice."

"I figured you would, how about the baby?"

"Him too," said Lecter, "he has his own little passports…two, just in case" he didn't remove his eyes from the road, but she could see he was grinning

"What did you name him, in the _little passports"_ she asked.

"Hannibal,… Hannibal Lecter" he answered darkly.

It took a second and then she got the joke and they both laughed, while they noticed simultaneously that they never heard each other laugh before, and that prompted yet another burst of laughter.

"No,… really, what name did you pick?" Clarice insisted.

"Adam," he said simply.

She looked at him, speechless...

He mistook her silence for disapproval and went on

"I just thought it was appropriate, in an odd kind of way. For the backup passport I picked Emanuel. What did _you_ name him, Clarice?"

"Adam," she murmured

"You named him Adam too?" he marveled.

_"I just though it was appropriated in an odd kind of way,"_ she mimicked. "The first man, created by God... Our Adam is the first of his kind too."

They drove in silence then; eventually, the movement of the car won her over and soon Clarice dozed off. Before she did she mumbled something that sounded like

"Is a ..od thing…I never….you … stop"

The doctor though she might have said _"Is a good thing I never asked you to stop!"_ but decided it might be just his wishful thinking, and decided to ignore it for now.

When they arrived, he parked behind the house and just sat there, enjoying the quiet, reflecting on the fact that they were together. He hoped to keep it that way. Then, after a while, he gently woke up Clarice.

She woke up fast, opened her eyes, and stared at him; she appeared relaxed, and took the hand he offered to get off the Expedition.

The Doctor removed the baby seat from the base, remaking that Adam seemed fast asleep. Then they made their way to the house, entering through the kitchen door.

Dr. Lecter put the baby seat on the kitchen table, helped Clarice out of her jacket and then removed his own and hung them in coat closet off the kitchen.

"Can I suggest a short tour of the house? Then settle for a light dinner and some wine, hopefully we can fit it all before the next feeding."

"That sounds like a plan," she said easily.

"OK then," he said reaching for the baby seat, "should we take him along?"

"I'd rather we did," she said softly looking straight in his eyes. "I haven't left him out of my sight for one moment since I he was born, not for a second!" then added self-consciously, "well…except for the few minutes when you carried him."

He took the baby off the seat, placed him easily on the crook of his left arm, and led the way. There was a nice comfortable living room with 2 comfortable looking sofas and a few soft armchairs; a family room with a large TV set, comfortable stuffy chairs, another sofa, plenty of side tables, several lamps and a piano.

Each of their bedrooms has its own adjacent bathroom, and she noticed that he had placed a bassinet beside the bed in both his and her bedrooms, as in a tacit declaration of his intentions to shared _baby duties;_ Clarice found that touching.

She threw her handbag on her bed, and followed him.

"I took the liberty to acquire some clothes for you, Clarice, nothing fancy, just similar what you have been wearing plus some pajamas and a few other items." He smiled, "you'll find it all in your closet" he pointed to it.

They made their way back to the kitchen.

"I wouldn't mind a glass of wine while you prepare our dinner." She suggested while taking the baby from him.

He nodded, then left the room for a few minutes and returned with an over the shoulder baby sling carrier that he offered to her looking rather pleased of his own foresight.

She acknowledged it with a meaningful smile, and handed him back the baby while she passed the sling over her head and made the necessary adjustments. Hannibal Lecter observed her with his head slightly turned to one side, and a look of clear admiration in his eyes.

She reached out for the infant.

"Thank you" she said softly, "I see you thought of everything."

"This IS a joint project, Clarice"

The Doctor then concentrated in the dangerous task of opening a bottle of good wine. He went about it carefully and attentively. While the wine rested, he turned on the oven to reheat a quiche he had prepared earlier and took a bag of cut greens from the fridge.

Clarice observed his graceful movements, and for the first time since she was summoned to Tunberry's office, she allowed herself to relax.

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Comment please!!!


	9. Chapter 8a Advice from Beyond

_A big THANK YOU to those of you who encouraged me with your comments and to all the kind readers who are following the action.  
_All the characters here, aside from Adam, belong to Thomas Harris, whom he can thank enough for his inspired work.

_Chapter 8  
__Advice from Beyond_

The Doctor poured the wine in two of his new glasses, handed one to Clarice, then set the table with his new place mats, dishes and silver, and finally sat across from her.  
"If you allow me, I'd like to take care of Adam tonight, so you have a chance to catch up with your sleep."

"Thank you Doctor, I can use a good night sleep" she smiled tiredly. " Do you suppose that you could examine him tomorrow, check him out and make sure that he is coming along well. Check his navel, and verify that I'm handling it right?"

"I'm glad you brought that up, Clarice. Yes, I planned to suggest that I did"

She nodded.

"We haven't talk about Adam yet, and maybe tomorrow we should. In the meantime, I want to assure you that your welfare is my highest priority and that as far as I'm concerned Adam is as much your responsibility as he is mine."

He looked at Clarice intently while he spoke, then leaned close to her and whispered.

"Why did you take him Clarice, what prompted you give up your career to take care of a child such as this one?"

"_A child such as this one,_ indeed!" She enunciated the words very slowly for further emphasis. "The way they referred to him, you'd think they didn't consider him human!"

Her tone carried a sad note of bitter sarcasm, clearly not addressed at the doctor but at the circumstances.

She went on "How could I have refused him? They wanted to do away with him. They would have aborted him if I didn't adopt him."

"Did they tell you that, Clarice"

"Oh yes they did. They said they preferred that I took him and cared for him, which surprised me. When I asked why, Thunberry admitted it was just because it was the politically correct approach to the issue. Frankly that also gave me the creeps, but I thought I'll handle things as we go along. The main thing was to take him away from them. Far and away. I was not going to stay in that house a minute longer than I had to." The distress in her voice was unmistakable.

"I have no experience organizing disappearances, Doctor, but I would have done it."

The expression in his eyes remained inscrutable.

"Did you ever wonder if he would be born with my memories Clarice, my thoughts, my line of reasoning, my motivation, so to speak? Did you ever ask yourself if he might be predetermined to become a _monster_, _just like me?"_

"That is total crap, and you know it Doctor." She chucked both indignant and amused.  
"You know perfectly well that while he is a genetic replica of you, he'd have his own basic nature, develop his own unique personality and his OWN memories and reach his own conclusions. He is Adam, the first of his kind, made you your image, that's true, but like the first Adam, he too is endowed with his own free will."

_"She''ll never cease to surprise me."_ thought the Doctor, not bothering to disguise the admiration in his eyes.

Clarice went on, passionately.

"I hope he turns out to be like you in many ways, Doctor Lecter, I hope he has your integrity and honesty, your willingness to own up to your actions, your intelligence and cunning, your dependability…many things…." She trailed off, and looked away, a little embarrasses at her own tirade.

The Doctor got up in silence and left the room, to come back just second later with a portable crib that he set adjacent to the kitchen table. Then picked up the infant seat and set it inside the crib.

He pointed to the sling across Clarice's chest. "You don't want to keep Adam in there while we eat Clarice, he might end up with a piece of hot quiche on his face," he chuckled and reached out for the baby.

She nodded in agreement.

"He is awake, you know? " he commented as he lifted Adam carefully from the sling, placed him in the baby seat and strapped him in.

"He is very quiet. At times he seems…observant"

Dr Hannibal Lecter turned back to Clarice and chucked,  
"Observant indeed, he is only three days old, Clarice. Clinically he can't yet be observant yet" his tone was easy and had a slight tease to it.

She looked at the baby and then at Lecter.  
"Look at him, Hannibal" it was the first time she called him by his given name.

He made a hard pause, almost frozen in midair, then turned to her,  
"I never thought I see the day!" he commented in way of acknowledgement.

Clarice reached out for him and run a finger up and down his cheek stroking his neatly trimmed beard.  
"Look at him, see what he does when you are near, then let him touch your beard, he seems intrigued with textures."

Lecter turned to look at the baby then; the infant was stared back intently, his head slightly tilted to one side and his tiny mouth open ever so slightly in a manner that was familiar to both the Dr. and Clarice. He seemed fascinated observing the doctor, while his huge eyes followed his every move.  
"I'll be dammed!" the doctor said in the most uncharacteristic fashion. "How long has he been doing that?"

"Ever since he opened his eyes." Her tone was matter of fact.  
"Get close, talk to him, and move about a bit as you talk. Not so close that your breath will blow on his face and take his breath away, if you do that he'll just wiggle and blink."

The Doctor followed her instruction, and the child, calm and placid, followed the doctor's movements with his eyes; unblinking in a typical Lecter fashion. Then, when the Doctor leaned closer still, Adam extended his tiny hand and touched his beard, then promptly drew back his hand, as if surprised by the new texture, then tentatively tried again, this time fearlessly exploring the new surface with this minute hand.

"This is not the typical behavior of a three day old." Dr. Lecter commented, clearly mystified

"Of course is not" Clarice said easily. "And there are no records of your early childhood to compare. He is YOU," she concluded, shaking her head in wonderment. "Gosh, he _is_ just too adorable!"

Hannibal Lecter gave her a curious look and turned around to remove the quiche from the oven, set it on a trivet and went back to the counter to cut some tomatoes for the salad. In a few minutes the whole meal was on the table.

"This is excellent," Clarice commented, after the first bite "luscious actually. May I have some more wine?"

He nodded, and poured another glass.  
"Tonight we can use the _ready made_ 4 ounce bottles" the Doctor announced as if he had spent the past six month feeding newborns around the clock. "I already sterilized the nipples and rings, so we are all set for tonight feedings."

"He's not hungry yet," Clarice declared, you'll know when he is hungry because he will whimper a bit, just enough to let you know. He never fuzzes."

"I'm a very light sleeper, Clarice, if that concerns you. I'm sure I'll hear him."

"What concerns me, is that I haven't yet parted from him, and…" she paused as if unsure that she could freely say what was in her mind.

"Are you afraid I'd steal him from you while you are asleep, Clarice?" there was not a hint of the old sarcasm in his voice, just plain concern.

"No" she said firmly "oh no!, of all the people in the world you are the only one I feel I can trust"

"That is a big statement, Clarice"

"Is the truth, though. You are the only person who ever took any real chances for me." she paused, ever so briefly and then, enchanted him, once more, with her frankness.  
"What I _would_ like to know, is, who did you come back for; Adam, me or both of us?"

It was the fist time that she acknowledged his feelings for her.

The Doctor knew he could have toyed with that question, keep her dangling with a riddle or just disregard the question altogether, instead, he decided to play it straight.

"I felt a responsibility for him, and it gave me a good excuse to come back for you."

Clarice sighed "Is such a relief to get a straight answer!"...she finished her wine, and looked at him with clear wide eyes, like those of a child. "I'm exhausted…afraid I'm not too articulate at this point. But I feel I owe it to A. Benning to open her envelope now. We really have to know what she had to say."

She left the room and came back holding the envelope, sat back and opened it using the knife that the Doctor handed her for that purpose and after carefully unfolding the two pieces of paper, began to read out loud

_"Dear Starling,_

_Both Janice Duncan and I feel we are all in great danger. The Director might want wipe out all evidence of his wrongdoings. This time he went too far and is in too deep. _

_I don't have time to elaborate now. Just be aware that you and the baby are in great danger. The baby is the most incriminating evidence of the whole fiasco, and in a different way we are too._

_CALL LECTER!…I know it sounds weird but he's been straight with you, in fact saved you from the massacre at Verger's and patched you up to boot. With his experience avoiding the FBI and his intriguing feelings for you, he is probably your best chance; maybe your only chance. _

_Regarding the baby, the pediatrician will tell you that he will have no congenital immunity, but this is not entirely true. He might have less immunity than other babies, but, Jan and I have been supplying him with immunity agents mixed with the rest of his nutriments in an attempt to better prepare him for the outside word. When Jan presented the original fetal feeding Protocol, they told her the immunity elements would no be necessary so she removed them from the official Protocol. Then, she added them in to the local Protocol, the one for internal use here at the lab. We did it because we wanted to give him a better chance of survival. Janice is certain we have provided him with some immunity for the first 90 days after birth. Yet these elements will not alter the rate of his immunization regime after birth._

_If you have a chance, and manage to get out of the house, call my cell from a public phone. Your land phone might be under surveillance. I know mine is. _

_SAVE YOURSELF…seek Lecter._

_Good Luck_

_A. Benning_

There was a phone number scrawled at the bottom of the page.

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That's it for now. When I finished the revisions for this chapter it turned out much to long to post as it was, so I split it in half. I'll be publishing the next half sometime on Friday.

Let me know how you like it. YOU KNOW comments are always welcome.

C


	10. Chapter 8b Two More Victims

_They are not mine, they belong to TH; I'm having a lot of fun creating new adventures for them and hope you enjoy them._

**_Chapter 8.1  
Two More Victims_**

They remained silent for a long time, Clarice slightly stooped over, as if in mourning, while a few tears ran down her checks.  
The Doctor leaned over to wipe them, and when he did, her shoulders began to heave slowly at first and then violently, so that she was sobbing uncontrollably before the doctor managed to hold her firmly against his chest, soothing her softly, while he called her name and ran one hand softly over her hair.

Obviously disturbed by her crying, Adam joined in, bawling loudly for the first time in his short life, wailing, unabashed and unrestrained, at the top of his tiny lungs.  
That did the trick! The sound of his crying stopped her cold. She wiggled herself out of the Doctor's embrace and looked at him with visible panic in her red, swollen eyes; her breathing still uneven.  
"What's wrong with Adam?...he never cried like this before!"

He shook his head ever so slightly. "Nothing is wrong with Adam, he was just offset by your crying and he responded the only way he knows."

They both walked toward the crib and when they approached him, the baby's cries subsided as suddenly as they had started. Hannibal Lecter picked him, and in the manner he seemed to favor, accommodated him with the little head cradled on the crock of his arm against his chest, not unlike the position commonly used during feedings. Thus cuddled against the doctor, the baby closed his eyes, apparently exhausted from his first real crying tantrum. Then Lecter turned to Clarice.

"Let it go, Clarice, let's concentrate instead on beating them at their game. On making them pay for all this."

"A year ago, the thought of making them pay, would have horrified me." She commented, "now I find the prospect quite gratifying."

The Doctor nodded.

"Why don't you go to sleep Clarice, you need the rest. I can clear up and then care for Adam. We'll be fine."

Clarice cooed a few words to Adam who opened his eyes at the sound of her voice and looked at the intently, his maroon eyes staring right into hers.

She stood there for a few beats, her eyes again filled with tear, apparently undecided as what to do next, then, in an impulse that astonishment them both of them, she placed one hand on the Doctor's arm, leaned over and kissed him on his bearded cheek.

"Good nigh, Hannibal" she muttered and quickly left the room.

Lecter couldn't remember when was the last time that someone kissed him, and rubbed his fingers softly against the spot where she planted her kiss. By the time he looked up, she was gone.

He turned to the baby.

"Just you and I for the rest of the night, buddy. How about we heat up your bottle while I load the dishwasher?" His tone was easy and he made a conscious effort to lower the "intellectual" level of his monologue to what he considered "baby talk".

Clarice woke up a little disconcerted, alarmed at first to see the empty cradle; then immediately remembered all that had happened, and quickly got in the shower.

The doctor has stocked up a variety of wonderful lotions, hand creams, body lotions and oils, in addition to delicately scented soaps and skin scrubs. She smiled to herself at his thoughtfulness, and after a quick shower, still towering her hair dry, went back to the bedroom to explore the closet and drawers for whatever else he had purchased for her.

There were plenty or undergarments, and she found a good selection of footwear, a pair of sandals, an inviting pair of Gucci loafers, a pair of both Birkenstock clogs and back-strap sandals, and a pair of running shoes exactly like the ones she wore daily.

The clothes were entirely _casual mid-America_. Chinos, T shirts, a few skirts, a dress, a couple of blouses, and a few pairs of pants from Banana Republic, running shorts; a pair of comfortable Lounging pants from the Gap. Another pair of pajama pants and matching top. All clothes seemed aimed to allow her to blend in a crowd and become "invisible".

Clarice picked a pair of comfortable Gap pants not unlike ones she owned and a T shirt. Slipped in a pair of clogs and set out for the kitchen, were she was sure she'd find the two _men_ in her life.

Sure enough, there they were, Doctor Lecter feeding Adam while he talked to him in a soft voice, muttering words she couldn't hear from where she stood watching them.

"Good morning."

"Good morning, Clarice, I take it you had a good night sleep?"

Clarice nodded while she pointed with her chin at Adam, who had stop feeding and turned his head to her at the sound of her voice.

Hannibal Lecter shook his head in wonderment,  
"He is definitely not expected to do this at 4 days old, Clarice. "  
She grinned, completely accepting of Adam's improbable achievements.  
"Adam is different from _other babies_, Hannibal." She reminded him, and then addressed the baby directly "Adam is the first of his kind, right Adam?" Adam wiggled in the doctor's arms, his huge eyes rapt on her face.

"We got up early this morning, this little fellow and I, so I took the opportunity to examine him. He actually weights 5 lbs Oz which is in the small side, but normal, and I'm sure he'll grow just fine. He has excellent reflexes, his lungs are fully developed, his little heart sounds good, his hearing is fine; _at present,_ he is in perfect health. We have no evidence as to the degree of his immunity.

"When will he catch up with this immunity situation?"

"Clarice, _natural immunity_ results as a passive transition from _congenital immunity_. Maternal antibodies cross the placenta and remain in the child for 3-6 months and disappear as the child's immune system starts to perform.  
We know these two unfortunate ladies provided him with immunity agents but we don't know what kind, we should assume they did a good job, they both had excellent credentials and clearly the best intentions. Still, Adam is the first of his kind, and everything about him was experimental. There was no previous data to go by. In short, we'll have to play it by ear, until his own immune system begins to perform, we must be careful."

He paused as if waiting for questions, but Clarice was too intent absorbing what he had to say and seem to wait for more. So he continued.

"He had his _hep B_ shot and in two month he'll get his first _DPaT_ and his _Hib_, that will begin to cover him for Diphtheria, Tetanus, Pertussis, and influenza type b and he'll get his first Polio vaccine, and then another every month thereafter to complete the series."

"Yes, but what until then, will be safe?"

"We'll have to keep him away from risky environments, malls, airplanes...DR's offices, where all the other kids come in with their little deadly germs"

"Is he going to be all right?" Clarice seemed to have lost her voice.

He reached for her hand and squeezed it firmly.

"Clarice, we just have to be careful. You understand that even in the most extreme case we cannot start a vaccination series until he turns two month."

"How do you plan to get them, the medications, without taking risks? I DON'T want you to take foolish, whimsical risks. In fact, I don't want you to take ANY risks." Her mouth was set in that stubborn gesture he knew so well.

"No risks, Clarice. I've already managed to get a good supply of everything we could possibly need. I made a short intermediate stop at an old friend's on my way from the west coast, and she provided plenty of medical supplies. We can get more if need be."

She smiled, relaxing visibly.

The small TV set in the kitchen had been turned to the news all along, but it was not until they were in the middle of their breakfast that the FBI log filled the screen, followed by the announcement of a News Bulletin. The doctor immediately increased the volume

..._ the FBI ranks this morning with the murder, just a few minutes ago, of Assistant Director Noonan, in conditions similar to those that ended the life of Section Chief Clint Pearsall yesterday. This new tragedy, prompted Director Tunberry to mobilize all available manpower to investigate the murders. Our mobile unit is on the way and we'll bring you more news as they develop._

Immediately following, another photo filled up the screen, this time that of the pediatrician who examined Adam at birth.

"_Dr Jason Kramer lost his live when a gas explosion wrecked is Georgetown home early this morning. Dr Kramer, a pediatrician specialized in neonatal pediatric immunity, famous for his research in the regulation of lineage-specific gene expression blood cells, epigenetics and regulation of chromatin structure during prenatal development. The Doctor retired from private practice last year and was entirely dedicated to several projects of Government research."_

Clarice, who had been holding her breath, leaned back on her chair and exhaled. She suddenly looked drawn

"That was the guy that examined Adam right after he was born."

"I figured that much, Clarice."

"Do you think the next one is Tunberry?"

"Frankly, I don't care who goes next, as long as is not you. And I am almost certain that for now, I have covered every track."

She looked at him, but didn't speak

"Like I told you, Clarice, I don't sleep much, last night, after the 4 AM feeding, I bundled up Adam, placed him in his stroller, and we went to the garage where I replaced the original tires back on the truck."

"You had changed the tires?"

"Yes, the Expedition was bound to leave some tire tracks in the area around your cottage, specially because as your probably remember, I parked off the road. So I purchased some used tires and switched them before I went to fetch you."

"No wonder I failed to capture you" she smiled a semi crocked smile, and raised her eyebrows ever so slightly.

"I wouldn't say that," his eyes sparkled with mockery "you had difficulty _tracking me_, still you _captured_ me years ago, Clarice."

XZXZZXXZXZXZXZXZXZX

I hope you like the direction we are following here. Let me know how the story line looks from your standpoint. The will be more action in the following chapters and their relationship will develop further, so stick around.

C


	11. Chapter 9 False Security

_Aside from Adam, the characters belong to Thomas Harris. Whom we have to thank for many things, indeed._  
Thanks to all the kind readers who are following this fiction with such enthusiasm, I hope to maintain your interest throughout the coming chapters.

_**Chapter 10  
False Safety**_

After breakfast, while Clarice fed Adam, the doctor disappeared for a few minutes; then returned with a large box that he set beside the table and proceeded to open.

"I think you are going to like this. I bought it yesterday in a whim on my way to your cottage." While he talked he removed from the box a folded _Jogging Stroller_ and proceeded to unfold it.

"Oh! I've seen women jogging while pushing those. They are neat!" she found the prospective of jogging quite stimulating.  
"We are in the center of a 5 acre property, Clarice, and there are paths on each side of the house leading to a single path that runs along the fencing that surrounds the property, you can use it as a jogging track. The fresh air will be good for both you and Adam, specially now, that the pollen season is over and the air is clean."

"You are coming with us!" Clarice declared sounding as if she wouldn't take no for an answer.

The Doctor tilted his head in the manner that was characteristic and stared at her curiously. She chuckled.  
"Come on, is good for you, a little exercise will keep you in shape."

After jogging, they both took turns showering, not for lack of bathrooms, but because by unspoken agreement they never left Adam unattended. Clarice was the last one to shower and when she returned to the living room the doctor mentioned that he wanted to go out to get a few things.

"By yourself?" she asked tensely

"Well... I...yes, I thought..."

"No." she interrupted, more forcefully than intended.

"No?" there was an almost imperceptible edge in his voice

"No, please, don't leave us here, I'd get concerned about your safety and claustrophobic because I don't have any means of transportation just in case of ..."something."

He didn't even bother to challenge her logic.  
"I see… Well, then we'll have to consider getting another car; eventually one of us is going to have to go inside a mall or supermarket; and soon it will get too hot for the other to wait in the truck with the baby."

She considered for a few beats

"Naturally I'd prefer that we go together, but the idea of waiting in the car makes me just as claustrophobic. Yet today, I'd rather we come along."

"All right, let's get ready them" he responded, the picture of agreeability.

During dinner, while the baby was sleeping and the TV remained on with CNN playing mute with the captions on, Clarice suddenly decided to ask the question that that had been nudging her.  
"Don't you think is odd, that there are no reports of the death of the two goons that you dispatched by the rented cottage?"

"I don't know what to think, Clarice, they certainly must have been discovered by now. Do you suppose that their mission was so clandestine that their murder would be undisclosed to the press?"

"Well, if they are trying to commit a crime to hide another, then their unnatural deaths will be covered up. In fact we didn't even know who they were, whether they were _official _or off the books." Clarice reasoned. "And that makes it all the more sinister."

Once they finished their dinner, they moved to the living room for coffee, while they listened to Bach playing softly in the background.

The Doctor observed Clarice silently for a while as she sipped her coffee and after dinner liqueur.

"I'm pleased at how well you are holding up, Clarice." his voice was warm and soothing

She met his eyes with candid honesty and smiled.

"I'm fine, mostly thanks to you. I have total faith in your ability to avoid capture." She shrugged her shoulders ever so slightly as if implying that in his company, safety was a given.

"I feel absolutely safe here with you, even in the mist of all this chaos, and I like the feeling." She paused a second, looked at her hands and then back at him, her tone reflected a little surprise when she said : "In fact, I can't remember a time when I felt this safe, if ever."

He nodded, smiled vaguely, and waited for her to go on, thinking, all the while, how odd her statement might sound to anyone outside the room.

"Eventually I will like your help to sort out some thoughts and feelings. But first, I want a few days to try and sort others on my own." She seemed a little tentative. "Let's say a couple of days..."

"I'm not pressing you for anything, Clarice; you'll be ready when you are ready." He smiled with mischief, "Remember, _'All good things to those who wait_'...so I'm patient.  
Remember though: you don't owe me anything! Gratitude and sacrifice are not the feelings we want to bring to the table."

She looked at him in silence, digesting his words slowly. Small noises from the bassinet distracted them and the doctor stood up. "Don't get up, Clarice, I'll get him"

He picked up the infant and placed him on the crock of his left arm, holding his head in his hand like a football, while with the other hand flipped up the diaper changing module of the portable crib, placed the baby on it and strapped him.  
"You need clean diapers, young man," he admonished seriously, in a manner so uncharacteristic that Clarice chortled.

"Your mama thinks we are funny. Imagine that?...she is making fun of the Lecters!...we'll have to take care of that, ah?...What do you say?

When he opened the baby's diaper, the doctor stopped and turned to Clarice.  
"Clarice, the baby is 4 days old, we can remove the clip from his navel now."

She gave him a curious look.

"Hmm...the pediatrician told me to keep it for what, one or two weeks?" the last two words carried a note of curious dismay

The doctor brought on finger across his lips to indicate silence, then made a gesture with his hand across Adam's belly, not unlike the one he made when he wanted her to scan the baby seat.

Without a word Clarice got the scanner. When she turned it on and approached the baby, the machine promptly lit up.

The doctor removed the clip without hesitation, handed it to Clarice, replaced the gauze pad that covered Adam's navel, then quickly wiped, diapered and dressed him with a stretchy that he fetched from a bin on a lower shelve of the unit. Finally he picked up the boy, leaned over and whispered in Clarice's ear

"What are you going to do with it, how do you deactivate it?"

She made a gesture to indicate that he should follow her and he did, carrying Adam against his chest. Clarice went to the kitchen and placed the clip on a cutting board, then took a small pointy knife from one of the drawers and pried it open, "Bingo!" she said while she removed the small chip.  
"A tracking device", she announced, triumphantly, showing him the tiny chip that she held carefully between her thumb and index fingers. Then she placed it on the cutting board, took a meat tenderizing mallet from the Doctor's utensil holder, lifted it, and brought it down on the chip with all her might, shattering it in a million pieces.

"There, "_now_ it's deactivated."

"Why do you suppose they haven't shown up yet, Clarice?

"When you picked me up at the cottage, and we went back to check the bodies of the two that had been watching me, I disabled the receiver they had in the car. The bodies were probably not missed until the next day, so that gave us a head start. We are quite a distance away right now and they'll have to produce a much stronger receiver to pick up the signal of this particular chip, and even after they produce the receiver they'll have to have luck in their side to aim at the right direction." Once she finished the explanation she looked down at her hand, back at the Doctor,  
"It would be wise to consider leaving as soon a possible; there is no doubt that our security has been compromised. We might have to go to a hotel, and then keep moving on from one to another."

"I have that covered, Clarice"

"Ah?" she looked at him, once again amazed by his planning.

"Before I came back to the US, I made sure to rent several properties such as this one, all across the country, covering every possible exit route. Just in case I had to drive with an infant, while killing time until he had enough immunity to travel abroad by plane. The cost is not much higher than that of a good hotel, but the privacy is priceless.  
That is why I only bought several portable cribs and other portable items, bassinets, changing table, etc. So that if one house became unsafe, I could pick up the baby paraphernalia, put it in the back of the Expedition, and drive away to the next location.  
I wasn't sure then that you'll come along, but I was hopeful."

Clarice looked at him in awe

"To think that I once hoped to track you down...is laughable. I'm no match for you."

The doctor stared at her characteristically tilting his head to one side.

"You are quite a match for me, Clarice. Never doubt that!" he seemed amused "Why don't you go to your bedroom, put the baby in the bassinet and start preparing the contents of the nursery to load them all in the truck. There are suitcases in the linen closet right outside your bedroom, use what you need. I'll fold this portable unit here and start preparing too."

"Are you going to start loading the truck now?" she sounded a little breathless

"No, we'll keep the truck in the garage until we have everything ready to load, then I'll bring it in front of the door and we'll load everything at once and be gone. It works better that way."

Clarice took the baby from him and headed for her bedroom. The fist thing she did was place the baby in the bassinet, hook the Harpy in her right pocket, where she could swing it out in one sweep, then strapped her small gun to her ankle and wedged her K-frame Smith and Wesson on the waistband of her pants.  
In ten minutes she had cleaned up her closet and drawers and filled two suitcases.

She put the baby in a warmer pair of pajamas and set aside a blanket in preparation for the car ride, then, working fast she began to fold the dressing table, and one of the bassinets.

She was in the process of lining up all the folded items in the hallway when the Doctor called her from the kitchen.

"Clarice, dear, come to the kitchen and bring the baby, we have company." His voice sounded casual but, to her ears, slightly restrained."

"Coming, just give me a second" she called, back equally casual

While she picked up the baby, Clarice thoughts went back to Ivelda Drumgo, then placed him in the sling across her chest, and like Ivelda before her, covered him partially with a blanket that concealed the weapon in her right hand. She was more outraged than concerned and felt confident enough in her skills to handle whatever awaited.

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Let me know how you like it. You know that comments are always motivating.

C


	12. Chapter 10 On the Run Again

_They forever belong to Thomas Harris, and I'm forever having fun writing about them._

Thanks to all of you who continue to follow this fiction. You certainly inspire me to go on and I love you all.

**_Chapter 10  
On the Run Again_**

One of the two men was pointing his gun at Hannibal Lecter at a prudent distance of about 10 feet, the other stood about 3 feet from his partner, looking nonchalant and slightly bored.

The man with the gun addressed her as soon as she entered the room

"Do what we say or I blow Grandpa's head off." He waved the gun pointed at Lecter, "Hand over the baby, lady, and nobody gets hurt."

"Give him the baby Sweetheart, well be alright," said the doctor in is best cantankerous voice.

"Please don't hurt him," Clarice pleaded, making a motion as if to hand over the baby, while she fired two shots with her right hand with such proficiency that she seemed to hit both men on the forehead simultaneously, causing the back of their heads to explode creating a grisly mess.

She turned to Hannibal,

"Sorry for the mess, I thought they might be wearing bulletproof vests. The head is always a sure hit. Do you think the noise could have damaged the babies hearing?"

"Not permanently, Clarice. Especially since his head was an arm length away from the gun when you fired.  
Don't worry about the mess, we'll be leaving here shortly, we can leave the mess behind."

She appeared to examine what he said and then questioned him.

"Wouldn't that blow the identity you used to rent the house. When they find them here, in a house full of both our fingerprints?"

"So far we have nothing to worry" he didn't hide the satisfaction he derived from his own foresight and his pleasure at her lack of hesitation to shoot the intruders.  
"I have at least 20 driver licenses that stand up to realtors or car salesman background checks. I used a different one for each rental, in anticipation of sticky situations such as this one.  
While is true we are going to leave the mess here, is best to load their bodies back in their cars, drive it some about 10 miles and abandon it on the side of a road. That will buy us a more time, because, unless they search every single residence within a 10 miles radius is unlikely that the mess here will be discovered for a few month. By then we'll be far and gone."  
She looked at him admiringly,  
"If it wasn't for your planning skills, both Adam and I would be long dead. You are amazing, you know?"

"Thank you, Clarice, is good to see you _finally noticed_," he winked and bowed in jest, then switched to a more sober, while he methodically checked the pockets of each of the men for ID.  
"Before we start loading the truck, you might want to go out and check their car to determine what tools they used to locate us and see if you can find their affiliation and identity, being that neither carried ID.  
I'm not going to insult you asking if you are comfortable going out there by yourself. I never saw you in action before, Clarice, you were magnificent."

She rewarded his words with a wry but warm smile.

"Somehow I get the feeling that I might be forced to treat you other similarly _magnificent performances_ before we finally manage to leave the country, I hope is not necessary, but I wouldn't hesitate repeat this _performance_, if it comes to that." She looked briefly at her feet, then raised her head again and looked at him on the eyes.

"I wonder if you are disappointed by the crude display of my killer instinct, by my lack of hesitation to readily cut down lives. I could have just disabled them, you know?"

He looked at her silently for a full second or so, his eyes were warm on hers and, when he finally spoke, there was a sly hint of affectionate sarcasm on his tone.

"Disabled them and then what?" he shook his head almost imperceptibly "You are a warrior Clarice, that's what you've always been; and warriors kill the enemy without hesitation" his naturally dark maroon eyes had turned almost light when he went on. "Disappoint me? No! on the contrary, I'm extremely proud of your reactions."

She still had her own demos to fight against, so she plunged ahead.

"What about the _incorruptibility on the mirror_?" she grimaced.

"What about it? What part of defending you life and that of _your family_ can be labeled corrupt? Getting rid of the bad guys is what you have been doing all along, Clarice."

She was drinking his words; her eyes brimmed with tears, delving inside his.

"I'm beginning to suspect that on your own way, so have you...."

oooooooooooooooooo

During the hour that followed, the gathered all their belongings and loaded the Expedition; then, together they put the bodies of the two assassins in the trunk of their car, and Clarice drove the car with the two bodies, while the Doctor and Adam followed her close behind in the Expedition, when they were about 10 miles from the house she parked it on a paved rural side street; then jumped back on the waiting Expedition and they were on their way.

They had worked mostly in silence during the hour long preparations, trying to make the best possible use of time.  
Once in the Expedition, Clarice leaned back on her seat, closed her eyes and sighed.

"Where is this new house of ours?" she finally asked, once they were well on their way. She sounded remarkably calm.

"Outside of Newark, Ohio, a two story house nested in the middle of an approximately 30 acres of property, all fenced around the perimeter, there are plenty of trees for privacy; the pictures looked very nice, beautiful grounds with a stream, a great patio/deck a hot tub."

"Pictures, you have pictures?" she shook her head in amazement.

"Not with me, you never know in whose hands they might fall and destroy all your plans. But I wouldn't have rented a property without seeing pictures first. Anyway, I paid the Realtor extra so he could have a cleaning service perform an extra thorough cleaning before he sent me the keys."

"He doesn't know we are coming, though." Clarice commented, and no soon she said it, she knew that he had probably made provisions for every possible contingency."

The Doctor shrugged

"For all he knows we are already there. He is NOT supposed to show up. The phone has been connected and there is Satellite TV, all properly paid for in advance. We can call him in the morning and tell him we were a little delayed and just arrived, just in case he has been snooping around."

She snorted, "Why am I not surprised?... How far a drive is it?"

From the corner of his eyes, the doctor looked at the GPS on a bracket below the car radio.

"A little under six hours." He glanced at the clock, "counting to stop twice on the road for coffee and to tend to the baby, we should be in the house by 4AM...not bad."

"Would you like me to do some of the driving?"

"That won't be necessary, Clarice. I _like_ to drive, it gives me an exhilarating sense of freedom."

She reached out and placed one hand gently on his right forearm.

"You are an amazing man, Hannibal Lecter."

The doctor silently reached out for her hand with his left and squeezed it.

ooooooooooooooooooooo

When they finally arrived it was almost dawn. The house, fully equipped with several decorative _dusk to dawn_ lamps, literally shone like a jewel inside a fine case; a comfortable and welcoming sight for both Hannibal and Clarice who were admittedly tired, and left most of the unpacking for later; except for sheets, towels and the bare minimum to spend the night and cover the most immediate needs of the baby. By 5AM everyone was asleep.

The baby slept in Clarice's room, and when she heard him fidget, she reached out, placing one hand in the basinet, Adam immediately got hold of one of her fingers and seemed quite content until Clarice gathered the energy to get up, change him, and place him in the infant seat, then they quietly made their way downstairs and to the kitchen to heat up his bottle.

Clarice assumed that Hannibal was still asleep, probably exhausted after the long drive.

They had brought their belonging into the kitchen the night before, so she had not difficulty finding them.

While she waited for the bottle to heat up, she surveyed the kitchen, it was huge, with a large center island with a built in range, and two wall ovens on the wall behind it. She smiled, thinking how it would please him to cook here.  
French doors opened onto a huge deck that lead down to a patio.

The whole setup was so appealing that she decided to feed Adam out on the deck, so up they went again, to pick up a light blanket to cover him while he ate.

While she was going up the stairs, carrying the infant seat by the handle, Clarice seemed to believe she heard the engine of the Expedition and thought maybe Hannibal had gotten up and was bringing the car around to ease the off loading the rest of their possessions.

Upon entering the kitchen again she found Dr. Lecter there, surrounded by grocery bags and going out to the truck to fetch more.

"You went out without me?" her tone was not amused.

"Well, we needed food and you were sleeping...I thought I would make it back befo..."

Clarice interrupted him unceremoniously, while she put the infant seat on the floor, it was clear that she was downright pissed.

"I guess, at times, intelligence and sensibility don't go hand in hand" she seethed. "I asked you not to leave me alone...I _asked_ you, dammit!"

"Clarice," he started, his tone simultaneously contrite and perplexed.

She made a rejecting gesture with her hand as if to hold him at bay, then covered her mouth and started to cry.

Once the tears started it was as if an inner wall crumbled and all her fears and frustrations and regrets just rolled out of her like a massive tidal wave. Her entire frame shook violently, while she appeared barely able to catch her breath, heaving in despair.

The doctor placed a tentative arm around her and when she didn't push him away, went on to hold her gently against him in an effort to show both support and regret for his alleged thoughtlessness.

Clarice cried against his shoulder for some time, then slowly calmed down, extricated herself from his embrace and stepped back so that their faces were only inches away. Her eyes were red and swollen.

"This is really the only thing I ask from you, _PLEASE, _for the time being, don't leave me. Much less without so much as a note." She had to catch her breath, "I know I'm being unreasonable, and will get over this, but right now, please humor me."

He raised his hands in apology.  
"I'm sorry, Clarice...I'm truly sorry. I shouldn't have gone out. Even when I thought that I'd be back before you woke. It was both careless and insensitive of me. And I'm sorry."

As he expected, the admission of his _transgression_ and the apology defused her entirely. "_What do you say to an apologetic Hannibal Lecter?"_ she thought and decided to drop it.

"I think I lost one of my contacts"

"Lets look for it"

"No Hannibal, lets not, I was ready to toss this pair. I just picked up a refill of my prescription and the box with 6 pairs is still in my handbag."

"That hand bag of yours is like small department store."

She chuckled.

"I think I'm going to treat you to the sight of Clarice wearing glasses, only a few can claim such privilege but I want to try that look on you if just for an hour or so. I'll feed the baby first."

"Wearing just one contact?"

"I only need one eye to feed him." She teased.

When Adam finished the bottle, the doctor took him from Clarice.

"I'll burp him and then make breakfast while you shower."

oooooooooooooooooooo

When Clarice returned to kitchen, greeted by the tempting smell of bacon and coffee; she quietly poured herself a cup of fresh coffee and offered to pour one for the Doctor.

"No thank you, Clarice, I'll wait until I sit down for breakfast." He was scrambling eggs with his back to her and didn't turn.

"OK then," she said with a cheerful voice.

The doctor, in the meantime, removed a cookie sheet from the oven where he had cooked the bacon, and arranged several strips on each plate. He then plated the eggs and garnished them with a sprig of parsley, clearly enjoying the whole procedure.

With a plate in each hand, he turned to approach the table, and as Clarice had expected, he froze in place, then he blinked repeatedly and made a _double take_, Clarice burst out laughing.

He smiled, both disconcerted and downright delighted.

"This is amazing!...downright extraordinary...It changes you completely. I had no idea..."

"Nobody does!...not even Ardelia, and she was my room mate for years." She chucked, " I wear my contacts 24/7 for a month at a time. I had this done in regular glass, instead of highindex or asphric because I thought that if I needed to change my appearance they would do the trick. The prescription is not _that _strong but the quality of the glass makes them look like coke bottom glasses."

"You can change your whole appearance just by taking of your contacts and putting on _those_!"

"I never wear them, but after I picked up Adam, I put them in my handbag, just in case I wanted to go unrecognized" She paused, "ugly, ah?"

"You are still beautiful, Clarice. They look heavy."

"They are, and I hate them. I just wanted you to confirm that they will help change my looks when we need it"

"They are perfect to travel in disguise, that and the short ash blond wig I bought you before I picked you up at the cottage and never gave you, will render you totally unrecognizable."

As in second thought he added,

"If you want, after we unpack and get settled, we could go to Newark and open a mail box at the UPS Store there, and you might want to do some shopping, or check the neighborhood, what do you say?"

"I say we have a deal!"

oooooooooooooooooooo

OK, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. As you probably suspect, there are more thrills and adventures ahead for this budding family. So hang on tight

Let me know if I'm still like the way this is going.

More to come


	13. Chapter 11 The Calm Before the Storm

_The adults all belong to TH, I only own Adam, and he doesn't "do much"._

Thanks to the wonderful readers who are taking the time to read this fiction.  
I love you all.

_**Chapter 10  
****The Calm Before the Storm**_

After breakfast they took a tour of the house, they already knew the bedrooms were huge, each with its own fireplace, and the kitchen splendid, but they were happy to discover that the living room was large beyond the doctors expectations, maybe around 40 by 20 feet and dinning room tasteful, Dr Lecter knew there was a piano in the living room, because, whenever possible, that was one of his prerequisites when choosing a rental; they both liked the "family room", huge and yet cozy with several sofas arranged facing a large TV.  
They were both thrilled with the terrace, patio and deck which they agreed they would enjoy.

In short, they had put behind them the ordeal of the night before and enjoying the moment. They were happy. The Doctor called the Realtor to report their arrival, then they unpacked their few possessions, readied their baby and set out for their first leisure outing _as a family. _

Before they left the house, the Doctor gave Clarice an Oregon Driver's license and a debit card; the license featured her photo and was under the name of Claire Sommer, married, age 33 from some address in Medford, Oregon. The credit card was under the name of Dr. Joseph Sommer and the Lecter asked her to sign the back with her _new name_ to make it valid.

"Claire Sommer?" his inventiveness to anticipate every possible detail never ceased to amaze her.

"It is in line with the identity I used to rent the house. The driver's license will stand up to a normal background check, and the debit card backed up by a hefty account and legal. We have other, such documentation to match the identity of the each rental, and finally a complete set of documents for the long term identity, complete with a valid passports that we'll use to leave the country, and a fall back identity, to use abroad, just in case."

"Were you reasonably certain I would come with you?" to her surprise, she found the likelihood of his assumption more amusing than irritating.

"I am hopeful, Clarice"

"All good things to those who wait..." her eyes were moist, and her tone thick with reminiscence.  
Just as they were approaching a long awaited Kodak moment, the phone rang.

The doctor made an almost imperceptible gesture of annoyance and reached in his pocket.  
"Hello..."

"I wanted to verify that you are fine." The familiar voice of Margo Verger sounded stressed. "My source has been tragically affected by the events related to the cloning Project, and I wanted to make sure that you are aware of the danger surrounding everything related to the program."

"We are fine,thank you Margot. As you probably are aware by now, this initiative is not aimed at my capture, but that of my present company, or, more likely at their possible extermination." His voice was softer and more formal when he continued. "I'm sorry to hear about your source, Margo, is he dead?"

"No, _he_ is not, but someone close to him is.  
I suspect just who are the members of your _present company,_ and you can be certain that is not just their capture what they are after. These people mean business and take no hostages, yet is possible they want their _experimental subject_ back alive."

"We are safe for the time being but I'm grateful for your concern, Margo. Yet, we don't want you to do anything that would place you, or Janet or the baby at risk." He paused for just an instant. "How are Janet and the baby?"

"Oh, we are fine. The baby is very cute, a joy for all, that is for sure."

x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

During their outing, they opened a joint box at the UPS Store, then stopped at the local mall, where Clarice ran inside and got what she referred to as "stuff she needed", while the Doctor and Adam waited in the car.

On the way back they made a stop by the local drugstore and this time Clarice waited in the Expedition with Adam while the Doctor went inside. He returned carrying several boxes of _ready made_ formula.

"Are you planning to change his formula?" Clarice asked when she noticed the label on the boxes.

"Not just yet, but Adam has both low immunity and low birth weight. Is very possible that he might develop some allergy to the type of formula we are presently feeding him. I purchased a formula for babies with low immunity and high predisposition to allergies; especially protein allergies, which is common with milk based and soy based formulas. His stool was rather loose this morning and I don't want to take any chances."

"He has diarrhea?" Clarice had read all about the sometimes deadly results of pediatric diarrhea, and sounded alarmed.  
"No, just a lose stool, he is a newborn, his body still adjusting to digestion. I don't want to change his formula if he does well. Yet, if his next stool is still loose, we don't want to wait for things to deteriorate further, and we'll just change his formula; is good to have it handy, just in case, that's all."

She sighed with relief, and leaned back on her seat.

"We had a lovely day, and I'm certain we will have a lovely evening. Life could be wonderful, don't you think?"

"We are almost there, Clarice."

x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

Once they got home and removed everything from the car, Clarice went right to her room and unpacked her "goodies". She had purchased three silk pajamas and a silk nightgown, ivory in color with a peignoir to match. The general effect of every item was of understated elegance casual and yet extremely sexy, clinging to her forms.

After the fiasco at the Chesapeake, Clarice had finally admitted not only to her love for him but also recognized that he, in turn, loved her enough to chose to mutilate himself rather than hurt her, even after she seemingly rejected him with her most stubborn and defiant behavior .

During the month that followed, while she never believed that he had died during his escape from the Chesapeake, she feared that he was gone from her life forever, that he had given up on her. Clarice, filled with despair and self recrimination, had sworn that if he ever walked back in her life again, she would never let him go. She would just admit to him that she loved him and let the chips fall as they may.

Now the time had come to "walk the walk."

When she got back downstairs the Doctor presented her with a freshly changed Adam already in his clean tiny pajamas.

"We won't change his formula yet, he is doing fine, so far."

"Good, I'll go fetch one of the original the ready to feed bottle."

"All right, I'll begin to prepare dinner while you feed him."

The doctor watched her leave the room, he was happy with the way things were turning out. He felt that they could easily continue to avoid their pursuers and deal with Adam's immunity issue and was hopeful that Clarice would come to term with the feelings he always suspected she had for him.

After their dinner, they rolled the bassinet into the family room, and settled there for after dinner liqueur and coffee, the whole atmosphere was pleasant; they were relaxed and slightly tired.

"If you don't mind, Clarice, I'll keep Adam in my bedroom again tonight, I would rather keep an eye on him. One can't be too careful with infants."

Clarice smiled; she was more than pleased by the doctor's general attitude toward the baby.

"On the contrary, I'm glad that you care for him."

"It would be difficult _not_ to get attached to him, Clarice, he is a very endearing little boy on his own right."

"I just hope you get a chance to rest, you must be exhausted!"

"Nothing that a few hours sleep won't cure".

Adam made little noises and the Doctor immediately went to check him.

"You are a very wet baby," he cooed, while he picked up Adam and placed him on the crock of his left arm, the tiny head cradled against his chest, and expertly flipped the changing table fixture over the frame of the bassinet with his right hand, and placed the baby on it.

"Did he have another lose stool?" Clarice tried to repress her anxiety.

"Nope! He is just wet"

Clarice stood up, walked toward the bassinet and stood a few feet away, observing the interaction between the two versions of Hannibal Lecter.

Adam stared at the Doctor in that impassible Lecter fashion and Clarice laughed at the sight, she came closer and wrapped one daring arm around the doctor and leaned on the changing table with the other while she bent over the baby, and with a mischievous grin addressed both versions of Lecter,  
"I'll have you both know, that neither of you intimidate me with your impenetrable stare," she teased while she leaned further still, to kiss the Adam's forehead "Let me get out of here and heat up your bottle, young man, before I jump way ahead of myself."

When she came back with the bottle, the Doctor handed over the baby. Clarice sat down and began to feed him. The doctor sat across from her

"I forgot to ask you, Clarice, where are they supposed to mail you the Adam's birth certificate?"

"I already have it, they made it in advance and gave it to me when I picked him up."

"Is that so?" a bit of sarcasm was creeping in the doctor's voice.

"Is still in my bag, why don't you go and get it, the bag is in my bedroom, on the small chair by the window."

He gave her a curious look

"You don't mind my looking in your bag?"

"No, why should I? I have no secrets..." she shrugged easily, smiling at him.

As the doctor had suspected, the birth certificate was bogus.

He came back, holding the item from a corner, shaking it ahead of him as he would a small reptile.

"This is a fake, Clarice, it has no raised seal, and the paper is all wrong, a bad reproduction too. They must have been in a hurry to present you with such and obvious fake, and probably expected that you wouldn't notice, as a result of being overwhelmed by the whole birth scene and the idea of taking home an infant less than two hours old."

Clarice stared at him open mouthed while he placed the Birth Certificate in front of her

"Read here Clarice, what does it say under : _father?_

"_Father unknown_." She read out loud and stared at him, a confused look in her face

"What they want the _real_ birth certificate to read is "Hannibal Lecter", implying that I raped you at the Chesapeake and Adam is our child, then if and when you die, the child is orphaned for all practical purposes, _and in account of his paternity, not a candidate for adoption either_. So the government steps in, and _kindly_ create a special team to raise the _potential little monster_....In other words, they get to keep their guinea pig with no one to get on the way of their experiments."

He shook his head, as if in disbelief of the extent of the corruption implied in every new discovery.

"They are not trying to kill Adam;they are trying to kill you Clarice. They were ordered to get rid of the child and they figured a fail proof, round about way to make it appear as if they did, and still manage to keep him."

She raised her face to look at him, her eyes welled with tears.

x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

I hope you enjoyed it. Let me know, it always helps.

C


	14. Chapter 12 Closer

_By now everyone knows that the main characters belong to Thomas Harris, I'm not making money from these fictions. _

Many thanks to the wonderful folks who are following this story. I hope I don't disappoint you.  
I believe this is the chapter that many of you had been expecting. Enjoy!

_Chapter 12  
__Closer…_

The Doctor resisted the urgency hold her like a child and comfort her. So overcome was her with chagrin.  
"To think that my colleagues, the people whom I worked with all these years, wouldn't hesitate to orchestrate my demise it is rather overwhelming."

"Not all of them, Clarice, I don't think. I would bet that both Pearsall and Noonan objected to it, with the obvious result."

"You think that Mr Pea sell and Mr. Noonan were killed because they objected to my death?"  
"I suspect that they joined forces and took a stand against it; they might have made some veiled threats even…they probably felt, correctly, that if you were so easily disposable, they could be next.…Naturally they were right; the proof is they were both eliminated."  
  
Without skipping a beat, he pointing at Adam:  
"….He finished the bottle, Clarice, he is sucking on an empty shell" he grinned and reached out to take him from her.

"Ah?,…oh, I'm so sorry… I guess I got too…oh Adam, I'm so sorry" she handed him over and reached out for his little hand, still within her reach, while the doctor held him over his arm trying to burp him.

"Your feelings about the treatment you received from the bureau and the death of your former bosses is an issue that would be interesting for us to discuss, I would be happy to help you, if you wish, when you are ready.

She rested one hand on his forearm.

"Thank you, I certainly can use you help, I _do_ have a mixture of conflicting feelings, and the sooner I come to terms with them, the better."

He was silent then ever so briefly as if using the silence to set the ground for his next point, the meaning of which he wanted her to capture fully  
"On the other hand, it would be unethical for me to help on issues regarding your feeling for me. Those, you will have to resolve on your own."

He proceeded to lay Adam on his stomach over his right knee, while he rubbed the boy's little back in an effort to bring up the elusive burp.

Clarice walked until she stood behind the couch and place one hand over each of Lecter's shoulders, leaned over his head and whispered,  
"I'm almost there, Doctor, just need the courage to take the leap." Then leaned further and kissed him softly on the top of the heard, near his bald spot. "I'm going to take a bath and slip in my pajamas. I'm exhausted."

"Isn't it interesting, Clarice, that you only chose to get close when I'm tied up with Adam?"  
But she was no longer in the room.  
xzxzxzxzxzxzxzxzxzxzxzxzxz

Clarice soaked at length in the tub, the water softly scented by one of the exquisite bath oils provided by the doctor. When she felt her joints turn into butter she got off the tub, dried thoroughly and slipped into one of her new camisole pajamas and topped it with the small matching kimono, finished drying her hair and let it hang lose around her face, creating a relaxed, intimate look. She checked the whole effect; the pajama covered everything, yet, the silk clung to her skin revealing every nook and cranny it concealed.

Thus satisfied with her appearance she made her way, silently, to the doctors' bedroom; once there, she leaned against the doorway, watching while he talked soothingly to the baby in the bassinet. As she approached, she caught his last words,

" … she would look at me the way she looks at you. You lucky fellow!..."  
Clarice knew he could smell her and walked toward him quietly on her bare feet. She reached then for his hand and entwined her fingers with his.  
"I love Adam very much, how could I not?" she turned so he could stare in her eyes. " But it doesn't compare to the way I love you, Hannibal. I'm _in love_ with you."

For one interminable second he appeared totally immobilized, frozen in time and space –actually recording the moment in his memory palace.

When he spoke, his voice was hoarse and his eyes moist,

"I…please… say that again, Clarice…I'm afraid…"  
"I love you Hannibal, I guess I have for years." Clarice lifted her face to him, took a deep breath, and blinked slowly before she let out her breath again.

Very slowly Hannibal Lecter placed one hand on each of her shoulders and brought her to him until their faces were only a couple of inches apart.  
"How about my past, can you live with the memory of my past?"  
"To hell with your past!... Is your future I want, every minute of it. If you love me then stay with me… forever."

His lips were practically on hers when she murmured. "Don't ever leave me Hannibal...Promise…"

As their lips met, she could feel his forming the word _promise_, then, nothing else mattered.  
xzxzxzxzxzxzxzxzxzxzxzxzxzxz

Hannibal Lecter had never liked being touched, then, after enduring endless manhandling during his years at the Asylum, he positively detested it.

Yet, he thrived on Clarice's touch. Even during the heat of passion, her touch revealed the intensity of her love for him, and the feeling he derived, transcended anything he had ever felt before; and enveloped him like a warm liquid that reached and filled every crevice of his soul, soothing and comforting, changing him. For the first time since he was a very young child he felt complete and in a state of total peace.

Clarice woke to the sound of Adam's fidgety squeaking; Dr. Hannibal Lecter was leaning above her, propped on one elbow looking at her intently. His eyes on her face as soft as velvet.  
"Clarice…" he whispered and she reached out and caressed his face, run her hand over his cheeks, following the contour of his cheekbones, and down the side of his jaw, then up to his lips, he captured her hand then , and kissed the palm. She could have sworn that his lips on her hand murmured "I love you", and while the words were not meant to be heard, they felt tickly and wonderful.

She brought his hand to her face then, and nuzzled against it.  
"I never felt like this before, as if I'm finally complete, as if…" words failed her and he volunteered his own

"As if you just found the piece that was missing from your soul, and now you are whole."

"That's it, that is exactly how I feel. Is wonderful how you always interpret me, even before I do myself."  
"I was just describing mine, Clarice, and hoping that yours were similar."  
She let go of his hand and threw her arm around his neck, pulled him to her, and they engaged in a long, lazy, sensuous, probing kiss.

Uncharacteristically, Adam began to wail, a loud piercing wail at that, one that they were not used to. They both reacted to it with alarmed urgency.

Hannibal slipped back into his pajama pants and Clarice just threw on her kimono, by the time she tied it Hannibal was already with the baby. He picked him up and soothed him cooing softly while Clarice echoed. At the sound of their voices Adam's cry faded down to a soft yet persistent squeal. The doctor checked the alarm clock beside his bed, and turned to Clarice

"Why don't you get his bottle while I change him?"  
"He never cried like this before, Hannibal, what is wrong with him?" she put on her pajama bottoms.  
He winked and chuckled, … "we missed his midnight feeding, and he's protesting …Better get that bottle before he starts again…"  
She headed for the kitchen muttering, "Poor baby, we are neglecting him already…"

Still on his pajama bottoms, the doctor sat across from Clarice, in the family room, while she feed Adam. He stared at her almost in awe, intimately still flabbergasted to have finally won her.  
Clarice lifted her eyes from the baby and looked at him while switched over to the couch, sat next to hear and put one arm around her shoulders. She leaned her head on his chest.  
"This is as close to perfect happiness as I've ever been."  
"uh hmm," agreed her _monster_ and pulled her closer softly nibbling at her shoulder. A thought that would have curled the blood of many.

"I feel really bad for Mr. Pearsall," she burst, apropos of nothing "Now, in hindsight it seems as if the last time I saw him, right after he gave me the "Sparbuch" and the number of the other account, he tried to warm me that something was not right. He seemed disillusioned, especially when he suggested that I pick up the baby and disappear. I wonder if in the end they got to him too."  
"Do you feel he had a reason to be disillusioned, Clarice?"

"Oh yes! How could he not be?...But was not free to just up and switch job, he had three children!"  
"Three children that are now fatherless," the doctor said in a toneless voice that spoke volumes, "Is it possible, do you think that toward the end, he became more outspoken regarding the issues of corruption within the institution?"

"I don't know. After Krendler's wrongdoings became public…it was all over. I can't imagine any decent man not seeing the forest from the tree."

"Why don't you describe for me, _what,_ exactly was _all over_, Clarice." His speech was soft, and carried neither the harsh edge nor the meticulous formality of the exchanges at the dungeon.  
Clarice acknowledged his question with a nod and did as he asked.  
"The credibility on the integrity of the Bureau, even those who were not personally affected had to see the bigotry, the immorality, the all around corruption…That was the end of the line."

"Was that the turning point for you too, Clarice"

"No!" she shook her head, and a tender smile lightened up her face at the memories, while she turned her head to look at him, as if to empathize her words "my turning point was in the Dungeon, when we met and you saw ME; for years I lived with the memories or our conversations, your voice forever inside my head, questioning me, taunting me, highlighting every bigotry perpetuated by those supposed to uphold the law. Making me reach out with my mind as far as it could take me. It was wonderful and scary at the same time.  
All the while I glimpsed at the man behind the m… myth and was attracted to you and repelled by what was documented on your file."

"The monster," her corrected, "you saw _the man behind the monster_. Is OK to say it Clarice, I know I'm labeled a monster. However non clinical the label might be."

She let it go, and continued where she had left.

"I kept fighting my feelings, embracing them with one hand and rejecting them with the other…. And for what?...for all I knew you had forgotten that I existed."  
"You really thought I could forget you, just like that" he swept his hand across and over his head.  
She looked down at the baby's head and blushed.

"You want to hand him over, I'll burp him.?"  
She did, hanging on to the baby's hand while Hannibal placed him over his shoulder, balcony style.

They began to make their way upstairs.  
"What do you want to do next?"  
"Go back to bed," she reached for his hand.  
"All right," he smiled, and then addressed the baby. "Adam, if we miss your feeding you must remind us…Try it, say _daaaa, daaa…"  
_To his surprise the baby aped him turning out an "_aaaaa daaa" _and a big grin.

"That _has_ to be a reflex" declared the Doctor…."just a coincidence, I guess"  
But Clarice didn't buy it.  
"Go ahead Adam, show him what a genius baby can do." She stood in front of the baby and slowly vocalized,  
"Daaaaaaa, daaaaaa…. DAD"  
"daaaaadad" aped Adam…reaching out with one hand as if to grab her hair –heck she was close enough….  
"No reflex, Hannibal, just an outrageously smart kid….He's not even a week old and he is already talking!!!!"

"Not talking….yet, but I'll admit that he picks up sounds" then uncharacteristically added, "I'll be dam!"  
xzxzxzxzxzxzxzxzxzxzxzxzx

I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I know many of you wanted to see them finally taking "the step", and under the circumstances I wanted it to be really romantic.  
Let me know if this is what you had in mind.  
Love

Clariz


	15. Chapter 13 Adam Trouble

Hannibal and Clarice, belong to T. Harris, along with the other characters you recognize from the novels. I am making no money from this story but the fun I have writing it is priceless

Once again, I want to thank the readers for following this story, specially the ones who, with their comments, encourage me to go on. I'm honored.

_Chapter 13_

_Adam Trouble_

After breakfast the next morning, the doctor called Margo. As soon as they got past the brief greetings and salutation, he went right to the point.

"I have one question, Margot"

"Shoot."

"Have you heard from your congressman lately?"

"Nope," she appeared to be at the verge of saying something else, but hesitated and paused; then continued in even tone. "Everything was quiet today, too quiet, after all the brouhaha of the last few days. All of Starling's former bosses are getting murdered, it makes one wonder."

"Well, I'm curious regarding any other murders in the area. Can you recall anything of significance that may have been reported only locally, something we might be missing from _out of State_?"

There was a short pause, clearly while Margot still debated what to let on.

"No, why, is there something that I need to know?"

"No, Margot, just trying to piece everything together, if you should talk to your congressman, try to find what he makes of the deaths of Pearsall and Noonan." The doctor was aware of Margot hesitation and waited patiently for her characteristic straightforwardness to kick in.

"There _is_ something, except that if I told you I'd be revealing the identity of my source…" she trailed off as if tossing between two loyalties; then went ahead. "My source's wife was one of the key medical people in the cloning project and was conveniently killed a few days ago by a suspicious hit and run."

"Janice Duncan?...well that certainly explains volumes." Hannibal Lecter could feel his mind leaping forward and grasping the details that had eluded him. "For instance, we can fairly assume that she was then the one who _leaked_ the details of the project. She might have discussed her concerns with her husband and together they decided to expose project for the sham it was."

"Do you realize the magnitude of this whole thing, the web of corruption it unravels?" Margot's voice went up a couple of decibels.

"Never underestimate the corruption of those above suspicion." He chuckled "Thank you, Margot. You have been of great help. Let's talk in a couple of days and see what develops, if anything."

"Will do. Better keep this conversation short and sweet, just in case…."

"All right then, I'll be in touch. Ta ta."

"Until then…give my regards to your lady."

Hannibal Lecter turned to Clarice, who was cooing at the baby, cuddled in the carry-on pouch across her chest, and reported the last developments.

She stared at him, immobile for a few beats, and then threw one arm around his waist and rested her head on his shoulder. It felt safe there.

For a while, they were silent.

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"I'm puzzled about the unreported deaths." He commented out of the blue

"I find it rather chilling, that "they" managed keep them from the News." She planted tiny kisses on Adams head her hair falling around him and gave him the chance to grab it. "You are quick, Adam" she commented laughing.

"Did you ever read the entire transcripts of my trial, Clarice"  
They were both laying on their stomach on the king size bed in the master bedroom playing with Adam, who laid between them on his portable changing pad. Gurgling and smiling and kicking his tiny feet, delighting them both with his daily progress, far beyond that of an infant his age.

"I read absolutely everything contained in the FBI records, court records, medical files, background reports, medical school records and everything else I could get my hands on." Clarice chuckled, "You can safely say that I'm a true expert in all things Hannibal Lecter." She leaned over to kiss him.

"Did you see any reference to my own analyst"

"You were treated by a psychiatrist?"

"Well sure, the law requires that a practicing psychiatrist or psychologist, for that matter, undergoes ongoing therapy"

"I knew that, but I never thought you complied. How come he wasn't mentioned in any of the documentation?"

"She," he corrected, "she was not mentioned because they didn't find any evidence of her function as my spychiatrist.  
My attorney knew about her but suggested that she was not mentioned unless the prosecution found out and they never did. In line with the doctor/patient confidentiality she didn't have to step forward."

"So, where is she?"

"After the trial she moved to Broome County, NY, up until a few months ago she ran a mental health clinic there as well as a small hospital adjacent to the clinic. Now she is semi retired, lives in a small horse ranch that she recently acquired near Lexington, Kentucky and runs a clinic in her town, where she practices general medicine in a limited basis."

"You were in touch with her all along, then?"

"On and off, we went to Medical school together, on the night of the Chesapeake, after I left Krendler's house I went to Barney. The amputated finger was more than he could handle, so he kept it properly packed, placed it in a cooler, and drove me and the cooler to her Clinic in Broome county. That is where the finger was reattached, then with her help, a few days later I flew to Honk Kong, to another old schoolmate and colleague, Dr Chen Zhongwei who is one of the world pioneers on limb reattachment. He performed the adjustments and the followup"

"What is the name of this wonderful woman?"

"Marian Kratzen, I hope one day the two of you met, you are going to like her. She had many issues with what happened, but now she is fine."

"I'd love to meet her. "  
He smiled in agreement, picked up Adam holding him around the chest with both hands, placing an index and finger on each side of the baby's head for support, and raised him high up on the air.

"How is that, big boy?" he cooed.  
The baby gurgled agreeably, and the doctor placed him back on the basinet.

"Come back here Hannibal and hold me" Clarice reached out for him, and he gladly complied.  
She cuddled against him and closed her eyes "This is where I belong, here in your arms, feeling your warmth, touching you in a manner I didn't dare to dream about. I feel literally overwhelmed by both the sense of fulfillment and the need to touch you."

He held her closer, buried his head in her hair and inhaled her scent, quietly amazed by the ever increasing intensity of his feelings for her; he remembered how, during the few hours that they slept, Clarice had stirred often, reaching out for him and quieting down as soon as he held her closer, Hannibal Lecter kissed her hair then, cupped her face with one hand and sought her lips.

"My feelings for you, Clarice, surpass and go beyond any I've experienced."

"And Adam?" she asked softly

"I have strong feelings for Adam, I'll protect him with my life if I have to, but nothing compares to what I feel for you. Nothing ever will ."  
They enjoyed their proximity in silence for a few minutes, then Clarice ran he hand over his chest, slow and purposely. His response exceeded _her_ expectations.

During the quiet weeks that followed, there were gourmet meals, good wine, and good music, the doctor often played the piano and they enjoyed talking about literature, music, and their orphaned childhoods, there was frequent lovemaking, little sleep, and midnight feedings.

The doctor displayed undisguised affection for Adam, and delighted in his progress, which was, in his words, beyond compare.

For the first time in their adult life they had a family and they clearly appreciated it.

At the end of the second week in Ohio, when Adam was already three and a half weeks old, visibly growing and maturing at a rate beyond that one any baby his age, seemingly as healthy as a horse, one night, right before the midnight feeding, totally unexpectedly, the diarrhea started. When Clarice picked him up to change him, and noticed he was overly wet and her suspicious were confirmed when she opened his diaper.

"Hannibal," she whispered softly.  
"Hmm,"  
"Adam has diarrhea, you better check him" her voice was tight, and it didn't take a Lecter to realize she making an effort to sound calm and controlled…

She had removed the dirty diaper, wiped his bottom, and held his tiny body possessively against her chest. The baby very quiet in her arms, half clad on a fresh pair of one piece pajamas fastened from neck to waist. The bottom part still opened.

The doctor noticed Clarice's the unmistakably protective stance and reached out softly

"I would like to check him, Clarice."  
She handled him the infant. He face resembled the old impenetrable mask he remembered from the kitchen at the Chesapeake.

Hannibal Lecter felt the child's belly, checked his pupils, and further examined some of his reflexes, then diapered him swiftly, finished dressing him and handed him back to Clarice.

"We have plenty of packs of pediatric oral rehydration solution, and we'll start him on it now. In addition, it will be a good idea to keep him in a room with a humidifier. So, as soon as the stores open, I'll have to go out and get a few, three at least."

He paused to give her a chance to protest, but she didn't.

"We are going to feed him the glucose solution for 24 hrs and if he improves, gradually reintroduce a lactose free formula –the one we bought recently _just in case_. If he doesn't show signs of improvement within 24 hours then we'll keep him in glucose solution until he does, and then start the formula. I'd say that if examined, his stool would reveal particles of rotavirus."

"How did he get it?"

"Oh, is generally transmitted by asymptomatic adults, either of us could be a unsuspecting carriers, Clarice, we can't blame it just on his lack of immunity at birth. Diarrhea is not uncommon in newborns. The good news is that it will accelerate the development of his natural immune system."

"If he lives." She answered bitterly

The doctor placed one hand on each of her shoulders and looked straight in her eyes,

"Try to have a little faith, Clarice. I've seen plenty of babies born with no immunity at the emergency room of Mary Immanculate, and none died from diarrhea. And that was before the rehydration packs were readily available, or we knew as much as we do now about auto immune deficiencies."

She lowered her head, realizing she was just lashing blindly

"I'm sorry, I'm just worried…he suddenly looks much tinier and vulnerable…."

"He is tiny and vulnerable, but we are here for him, we'll do everything in our power to protect him."

She leaned against his chest, and began to weep.

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Please let me know how I'm doing here. Comments are more than welcomed

Clariz


	16. Chapter 14 News and Good News

_The characters all belong to Thomas Harris, as usual. I'm still having fun writing about them, and there is no profit derived from the endeavor._

I hope you like the way is going. Thanks, again to all of you who follow this story with such enthusiasm.

**_Chapter 14  
News and Good News_**

Hannibal put his arms around her and held her until she calmed down.  
"Here is the plan, Clarice; we will keep him in a controlled environment and continue to hydrate him. Adam is in a category by himself and there is no data regarding babies gestated entirely in a _glass jar_ such as he was. Still the fact remains that he is a strong baby and will respond to the basics."

After a few minutes, Clarice began to relax visibly and the Doctor released his hold on her to search for the hydration packs.

When morning came, Dr. Lecter drove to Newark, 4 miles away, to purchase four large size humidifiers. Clarice, though still shaky by the new developments, let him go without displaying any hesitation.

The Doctor was back in less than one hour; checked on Adam and proceeded to set up the humidifiers as planned, in the bedroom, kitchen, adjacent living room/dinning room and family room. He closed off the other rooms, thus limiting their occupancy the humidified environment.

During the hours that followed, Clarice kept Adam in the sling, resting comfortably against her chest, while one of her hands rested protectively on him at all times, aware that he was not as active as usual, but still seemed alert if not as interested the world around him, which generally fascinated him.  
The Doctor kept a tight vigil.  
Neither of them ate anything until mid morning when Hannibal silently brought out a platter with thick slices of cheese and fresh bread that he had picked up on his trip to town.  
They continued to re-hydrate Adam regularly, as the diarrhea continued apparently undiminished.

After watching their baby around the clock for the remaining of the day, they retired early and took turns watching him during the night.

At 4 AM, in view that Adam refused to take the bottle and feed as much as he should on the dehydration pack solution, Hannibal examined his tiny belly, pressing gently to check for resistance, then checked his reflexes, and started him on an IV. It looked awful but it was the best thing for the baby.  
Hannibal Lecter then sat, silently and watched the Adam for the remaining of the nigh.

When morning came, he explained to Clarice the reason for the IV.  
In a weak voice she asked "is he going to bounce back?"

They took turns showering and then between the two of them, managed to move both Adam and the entire IV contraption to the kitchen and placed him in the downstairs bassinet.  
Neither of them was in a mood to eat, but coffee was a must.  
They were on their second cup when CNN announced the unexpected Newsbreak.

_A new's breaking report of some magnitude is developing in Washington with the arrest of the Director of the FBI Gabriel Turberry. The charges are still undisclosed but the arrest seems to be directly related to the research project that involved the un-authorized cloning of the infamous Chesapeake Serial Killer, Dr. Hannibal the Cannibal Lecter. _

_The cloning appears to have been the focus of a top secret project, allegedly aimed to further the development of Criminal Profiling. _

_Undisclosed sources have suggested that Congress, mislead by Tunberry as to the true nature of the program, had granted the Director the 2 billion dollars budget he requested. The undisclosed source claims that the late Dr. Janice Duncan, the chief technical advisor of the program, who died a few weeks ago as a result of a now overly suspicious "hit and run"; apparently objecting to the nature of the program and clearly fearing for her life, had made arrangements whereupon in case of her death, the evidence of the cloning along with a copy of all the records of the project, be delivered to by her attorneys to Congressman Thomas Wilbur from Maryland, Jeffrey Clayton from Virginia, and her own husband Congressman Joseph Duncan from Virginia._

_All three, immediately set up an investigation of both the program and the "accidental" death of Dr. Duncan.. _

_Evidence seems to indicate that the program was dismantled right after the birth of the clone some three or four weeks ago, and the infant adopted by a yet unnamed individual, whom this reporter suspects could very well be former FBI special Agent Clarice Starling, of Hannibal Lecter fame, who coincidentally, suddenly resigned last some weeks ago and could not be reached for questioning._

_Unnamed medical sources are stressing the fact that the child is in fact the first cloned human being and that scientists don't know what to expect. They stress that he needs to be returned immediately to a major health care facility for further checking. His health, even his life could be at risk._

_Here is Congressman Wilbur now, stepping out of his office. "Congressman, should the child be recovered, what would be his legal status. Was he legally adopted before release?  
Can the Estate of the late Hannibal Lecter's, through his lawyer file to assign custody of the child?"_

_The congressman gave a friendly "folksy" response,  
"We are groping at straws here. There is every indication that the child does indeed exist. The fact that former special Agent Clarice Starling is recorded as the mother of a baby boy, born some weeks ago, at about the same time as the clone, may be coincidental, and her child could well be his an Lecter's natural offspring. We don't know if we are talking about one child here or two."_

_We can only suggest that Ms Starling step forward with her child to help us sort out he situation and for the safety of the cloned infant. _

_There is a possibility, however, that she might, have left the country after the birth, to avoid publicity. Ms. Starling might be concerned about her safety, in view of the untimely demise of both her former superiors, Section Chief Pearsall, and Assistant director Noonan. All the more reason for her to come forward and seek protection."_

They both watched in silence, mystified by the report.

"This is bullshit!" Clarice said, pouring herself a glass of water, while Lecter nodded, and quietly grinned at her outburst.

"Do they really think I'm going to just drive in there, baby and all, and place myself at their mercy?...Might as well stand blindfolded in front of a firing squad." She chuckled bitterly. Then turned to Hannibal,

"And _you_ let me hang around these people for all these years?" she mockingly accused.  
"I'm sorry, I just thought you enjoyed their treatment?" he retorted in mockery.

During the last commercial after the news, they gave up on breakfast and moved themselves and the basinets to the family room and sat, side by side on one of the couches, the Doctor, threw one arm around Clarice's shoulders, and she rested her head on his chest while they watched the related Special Program, that followed immediately after the news. A Media produced panel to discuss the legal rights of _Baby Lecter_ as they called him.  
Some panelists insisted that the baby should be raised in captivity because _everyone knew _what he was going to turn out to be. Others, probably parents themselves, argued that he was a brand new person and it was illegal to deprive him of his rights just in account of his DNA.

One woman said that if she were Starling she would pick up the child and run as fast as she could away from this madness. While another yet suggested that whether Starling's baby was her own and Lecter's or Lecter's clone, they were both at risk and she should NEVER resurface regardless of the bait.

Hannibal Lecter snorted.  
Clarice got up and stood by the basinet looking at Adam, she rubbed his head with one finger and the baby opened his eyes and looked at her, suddenly he seemed to light up and gurgled one of his _daahs_ and _gahs_. His eyes seemed bright end perky again and Clarice turned to the Doctor.

"Hannibal, come," she reached her hand out for him. "Suddenly Adam seems to look much better, listen to him Hannibal, he is carrying on a whole conversation!"

Lecter joined her swiftly, and watched while the baby's babble grew more animated.

"The worse is over, Clarice" he announced with evident relief, "He is going to be fine."

"Are you going to remove the IV, so we can pick him up and cuddle him?"

The Doctor stroked the baby's cheek gently with one finger and Adam greedily turned his head and opened his mouth seeking for the bottle, then he made the little noises that they identified as a sign that he was hungry.  
"That is called the Rooting reflex" Lecter informed, while he began to remove the IV "it was very mild, almost none existent when I place him on IV, whereas now it is rather enthusiastic, this is the breakthrough we were aiming for."

"Well, then, lets warm up a bottle" Clarice left for the kitchen while Hannibal warned.  
"Get a bottle of the glucose solution," his voice raised to reach her, "he is not ready for formula yet!"  
"Right!" she chirped.

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I hope you enjoyed this chapter, there will be a next, short one posted in the next few days.

Let me know if you prefer them short like this one. Does it make the reading easier?

C


	17. Chapter 15 Everybody loves Adam

_They will forever belong to Thomas Harris, and borrowed here with a sense of respect and admiration.  
_My deepest thanks, to those of you who took the time to post your comments, special thanks to those fellow authors who were kind enough to read my fiction AND comment.  
I love you all.

**_Chapter 15  
Everybody "loves" Adam_**

On the following days the scandal continued and grew, aggravated further by the discovery of two bodies inside a car, not far from the little cottage that the FBI admitted to have rented for Starling and where she was supposed to be residing right after the baby was born, but now seemed abandoned.

The report confirmed that the cottage was furnished with a complete nursery; and though there was evidence of occupancy, it was clear that the occupants were gone and nothing had been taken; even the infant's car seat had been left behind. Later, to add to the outrage it was disclosed that a tracking devise had been found inside the padding of the said car seat.

Somehow, the media got hold of a copy of Adams actual birth certificate, which, like Lecter predicted, differed from the one given to Clarice at the Lab, in that it showed Hannibal Lecter as the father of record. The media not only announced their discovery but it appeared in print on the cover of the Tattler, and it was shown repeatedly on TV, for the whole world to see that Hannibal Lecter was recorded as the child's father.

Later yet it was announced that the DNA obtained from dirty disposable diapers found in the cottage was identical to the DNA of Hannibal Lecter.

There was also speculation that both Starling and the baby might have been kidnapped and disposed of or eventually held for ransom, depending on who might have kidnapped them….if they were kidnapped at all.  
The outrage was reaching international proportions and the public everywhere seemed to side with Clarice, making the FBI as a whole, appear as the ultimate villain.

Aside from that of being the object of the cloning, there was no mention of Lecter, and it seemed as if the Doctor's notoriety and his past, faded in comparison to the present scandal.

A few days latter, the reports announced that the murders of both Pearcell and Noonan and the scientist and the pediatrician could all be tied to the cloning project as well, thus increasing the exaltation on the part of the ever increasing number of _Clarice's__ Fans"_.

"Soon you'll have a whole cult" the doctor tittered "similar to that of _The Madona and Child_…quite appropriate." He seemed rather proud of his own wit as he went on,  
"Is a good thing that I didn't use the name Adam in _all_ of the Passports that we have for him. By now I can see you envisioning the borders scrutinizing every infant called Adam, in the fashion of the Herode's troops before the Slaughtering of the Innocents."

"Right," she answered dryly, clearly not amused by the thought, "_the Slaughtering of the Adams_. Well, I'll have you know that I thought about it, and was grateful for your foresight."

"Unfortunately, in the mist of this hysteria, it doesn't seem too far fetched."

"Are we going to stay here until Adam is old enough to take a trip by airplane, or we'll be moving along?" the tone of her voice was a clear indication that either answer would suit her fine.

"I've mixed feelings about that, Clarice. I am not nomadic by nature, and however dull and culturally barren this location might be, I find is always safe to stay in one place, yet I would to examine Adams blood, do some tests and such, and for that I need a lab and privacy. The only way we can do that safely is if we pay a visit to my friend Marian Kratzen, she can provide us with both the lab and the privacy.

As far as cultural diversion is concerned, if there was any to be found in Lexington, I'm afraid neither of us would enjoy it if it meant we had to leave Adam in the care of strangers."

"Dear God, no! we can't leave him with anyone, not for a second."

"I think you'd like Marian, and might enjoy riding her horses, maybe the two of you can ride while I watch Adam, I imagine you'd like that."

"Hannibal, that would be lovely, yet I don't know if I'd be comfortable if we stayed long. Sounds good, but just for three or four days at the most. Are you going to need longer that that?"

He looked at her intently, then reached for her hand and smiled reassuringly.

"No, three days will be plenty."

"Then we'll move along?"

"Yes, I've made plans for that. When do you wish to leave?

"In a day or two, I suppose, if she would have us. Do you suppose the real estate man here will find it strange that we leave so soon before the lease is up?"

"I can work around that Clarice, I have some practice on the matter. I'll call Marian tomorrow and then we'll start preparing."

A few days later with all their paraphernalia packed in the Expedition, they left for the 3 ½ hour drive to Lexington.

"Did you mention to Dr. Kratzen that we need only one bedroom, right?"

"Oh, how thoughtless of me." His voice was all mock-apology; while the smile on his face could aptly be described as that of the cat who ate the canary. " I guess I'll have to sneak up in your bedroom in the middle of the night, after everyone is asleep."

Clarice picked up on the gag and moved right along

"If I'm to sleep alone, then I'll have to lock the door, one never knows what kind of pervert might come along." Her eyes were twinkling with delight

"Then I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll blow the door in half" he retorted, enjoying the repartee

"It might make things easier just to tell your friend to put us in the same room, and we can put to better use all that huffing and puffing." She was doubling up with laughter

"Are you laughing at me former Special Agent Starling?"

'Oh no, that would be….impudent…" she couldn't go on, panting with laughter.

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The farm was lovely with bright green pastures extended as far as the eyes could see; the house set deep in the center of the 60 acre property. As soon as they drove across the entrance to the property, the doctor called his friend on the cell phone, and she was waiting for them on the porch when the arrived to the house.

The doctor was a small woman, on her mid sixties perhaps, lean and fit, with abundant hair and a smooth complexion almost free of wrinkles. She approached the Explorer enthusiastically and greeted them warmly.

The doctor made the introductions and removed Adam from the car.

"Is good to see you Marian, we are grateful that you dare to giver us sanctuary under the present circumstances."

She made a dismissive gesture and leaned over the car infant seat to look Adam

"You can always on my hospitality, that goes without saying." Adam was still asleep in the car infant seat and she escorted them inside the house, showed them to their rooms, and announced that she would serve lunch shortly. Explaining that for the sake of privacy, she had dismissed the house staff for the rest of the weekend, taking advantage that it was the Thursday preceeding Memorial Day weekend.

The doctor declared that they will feed Adam before lunch so they could then enjoy their meal while he napped. Their host agreed.

They gathered in the kitchen where Marion was putting together a salad to go with the luscious Lobster rolls. The chat was easy and their host made several trips from behind the kitchen Island, to watch Adam as he fed.

"You'll have plenty of time to play with him, after his nap," Clarice assured.

They were having lunch in the back patio, when Marion Kratzen asked the first question that made Clarice uneasy.

"Clarice, are you ever afraid?,"

"Of what?" Clarice asked, taken aback by the question

"Hannibal" responded the other woman undauted, "Did you ever fear that he might kill you?

Clarice squinted, not unlike she did, long ago during target competition, then stole a brief look at Hannibal and noticed his eyes had darkened.

"Nope. It never crossed my mind, I can't imagine why would he have wanted to " She notice that Hannibal was almost smiling with amusement, but his eyes had darkened further.

"Because you wanted to craft his doom?"

Clarice laughed, even in the mist of her outrage, she found the statement entirely amusing.

"I didn't want to craft HIS doom, I just tried to perform my sworn duties, Hannibal knew that. He respected me for it, just as I respected his integrity. There was never conflict there."

"You are a remarkable woman, that is clear; I had been thinking how the present situation might be affecting you, not just the exposure, your certainly had enough of that before, but the attempts on your life. Are you ever afraid for your life, or Adam's or even Hannibal?

"Certainly," Clarice responded, while wondering where all this was going. "I'm often afraid, when I perceive danger. Hannibal, however, never activated my _danger sensor mechanism_."

Dr Lecter emitted a dry, empty sound that Clarice thought might be a snort, and for one second she wondered if he was trying to divert the attention of their host, who then turned to him.

"I have been thinking about the present situation, and how difficult it must be to be on the run with an infant on tow.

Especially when the infant seems to be the most sought after individual in the entire world, making him, right now the ideal target for every scientist and scientist wannabe imaginable. Let alone governments and their endless research departments.

I concluded that it might be much easier for the two of you to get out of the country without Adam, and then be reunited later on when the danger somewhat subsides."

"How on earth would we manage something like that?" asked Hannibal in a cold, mild and totally expressionless maner.

His lack of expression, the cold detachement in his eyes, and the deep red sparkles that they reflected all made Clarice shudder, yet the other woman, seemed oblivious to the subtle change in his body language.

"Well," she answered smug of her own cunning, "you might want to leave him here with me for the next two month or so, establish yourselves abroad and then, once he can safely travel by plane, I could bring him to you." She smiled "Nobody is looking for a couple _without a baby,_ just as later on they won't be looking for an elderly woman with an infant."

Clarice felt as if the muscles of her face belonged to someone else, someone much more capable than she at keeping an expressionless front. She felt her face smiling, almost on its own accord and wondered briefly how could this woman underestimate them in such obvious manner.

"From the safety standpoint, is a sound plan, Marian," Lecter's voice sounded pleasantly congenial, while his eyes hid a feral mockery that only Clarice seemed able to interpret. "I'd say you have given this a great deal of thought. I would like, however, to discuss it with Clarice, privately, for a few minutes, if you don't mind.

After we finish lunch, if you want to practice taking care of Adam for a short time, then Clarice and I can take a short walk around the grounds and talk it over. How is that?

"Dear Hannibal! I didn't mean to put you on the spot or push you for an answer, just thought you might want to consider it."

"No, no, why wait, an offer such as this one deserves immediate consideration."

He lifted his glass of wine and offered a toast to great suggestions and loyal friendships.

Both Clarice and Marian Kratzen joined cheerfully.

"If you don't mind," Clarice added after the toast. "I'd rather take Adam along during our talk, lets face it, if we are to leave him here, I'd like to enjoy every possible minute we have left with him".

"Makes sense," Marion said.

_to__ be continued_

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I hope you are enjoying this new twist. I tried to end the chapter right on the nick of time.

Let me know.

Clariz


	18. Chapter 16 Shades of Deeds Past

Well, they still belong to T. Harris but I'm having great fun writing about them.

Thanks to all of you wonderful readers out there, specially those of you who took the time to comment. Thanks for you patience for this chapter that took me longer than usual to upload.

****

**_Chapter 16  
_****_Memories of Deeds Past_**

After lunch, while their host busied herself tidying up, Hannibal and Clarice excused themselves, and with Adam in the sling across Clarice's chest, they stepped outside and walked towards the Expedition, parked a short distance from the house.  
Clarice leaned against the truck facing the house, while Hannibal stood facing her, his back to the house.

Hannibal knew she was furious, and tried to divert her attention towards the immediate task of resolving the situation.

"I guess I underestimated the scientific importance of Adam, and overestimated her loyalty. I'll take care of her, naturally, but before I do, let's discuss the detail, we don't want to leave any links that might associate us to her demise."

"But… wouldn't you rather make absolutely certain that she is guilty before we…well, do what has to be done?" Confronted with the reality of _planning_ her demise in cold blood, Clarice dreaded the thought that they could be misjudging the woman's motives.

"I _am_ certain, Clarice, but we will have no difficulty dispersing any doubts before we take final action. Let's go over the stratagem."  
"Go ahead, I'm listening." Clarice said.

"Do you remember "multiple" Miggs? His voice was soft, very calm, and it reminded Clarice of his "…not any more…" long ago in the Dungeon.  
She had been dreading the seemingly unavoidable violence that was to follow, and felt simultaneously relieved and flabbergasted by the way he continued to read her; and experienced a sudden, intense urge to touch him, to feel his warmth and his energy.

And again, Lecter sensed it and reached out for her, held her by the shoulders and looked into her eyes and held her to the extent that was possible with Adam between them, inside the sling against her chest.

The Doctor talked for a few minutes, Clarice then asked some questions, which he answered. In turn, she offered some suggestions, and finally, once they made the final recap, he held her at arm length, and they smiled at one another, certain they had covered every angle.  
Clarice reached out for him again, touching him gently as she loved to do. One of her great pleasures was to be able to touch him at will.

He leaned over and whispered in her ear and nuzzled her neck. She tilted her face to rub it against his, whispering rather hopefully  
"We could say that we are tired from the drive and the baby's schedule feedings and want to take a nap…"

"We better keep an eye on her from now on, it will be just a few hours and then we'll be free to do as we please…" he chuckled, mocking his own words of yore…"all good things to those who wait."

"I'm sorry, that she turned out to be this way." She rubbed his arm softly.

"I don't care really, Clarice, except for the inconvenience. What matters is that we have each other and we have Adam, we'll be fine as long as can keep it that way."

"We cannot let Adam fall in their clutches, Hannibal, they'll turn him into a laboratory specimen. They'll…"

"Try to keep those thoughts at bay," he interrupted, "we need to keep a clear head for the work ahead."

"You are not going to make her swallow her tongue, are you?" She saw a spark of amusement in his eyes, "OK, how do you plan to make kill herself?"

"I thought you'd never ask" he grinned, clearly enjoying the opportunity to show off his cunning. "Either by a severe overdose of pills or by lethal injection, depending what I find in her medicine supply room."  
"How do you know she has one?"  
  
"I stopped here for a few hours on my way from the west coat. I wanted to pick up some medications just in case I would need them later for Adam. She sounded enthusiastic, to hear that there might be a clone, and that I would rescue him." He chuckled, "now we know why." There as a trace of bitterness in his voice.

"Anyway, she has a large, well supplied home pharmacy, one of the best I've seen. She brings supplies in from the Clinic and has a bit of everything."

"Where are we going next?

"Georgia, we have three more houses-in-waiting, before we finally leave the US, this is a very nice property, charming and very secluded. The goal is to end up in Miami, on our way to South America."

"Miami?" she laughed, "Florida is one the last places in the world where anyone would look for you!"

"Good choice, hmm?" he laughed, pulled her toward him and kissed her a little roughly, then when the pulled apart, he run his hand on her hair, looking at her all the while as if she was the beginning and the end of all things.

"We'll be fine, Clarice. This is just a mild inconvenience, and we can deal with it."

Before they reached the house, Clarice stopped, Hannibal noticed her face was set on that stubborn expression he knew so well; with her hair lose and no makeup, thinner since her weight loss, she looked like an overgrown child. Her whole look tugged at his heart in a way that he would have never thought possible, and he closed his eyes briefly to dispel his urgent need to hold her and magically make all things instantly better for her.

Instead, he grabbed hold of her hand; it felt cold and clammy and he rub it gently with his thumb, while he waited for her to speak.

"I really resent her for this. For the first time in my life, I feel is alright to take justice in our hands. How else would things like this one get settled?" She had tears in her eyes, and the Hannibal Lecter didn't feel any satisfaction by the implication in her statement, by her acknowledgement that she was coming around to his own way of thinking.

Instead, he felt an odd sadness for the loss of her remaining innocence, for her final disenchantment on human nature, and pulled her to him while he comforted her, talking to her gently until he felt she was well enough to go back inside and play her part in the charade that they had planned.

As soon as they were inside, Lecter told Dr Kratzen that they had agreed to leave Adam with her, until they were settled in the South of France, where he told they were going to start a new life.

"Good choice, that will gives me an excuse to go there, I always wanted to go back. I imagine how much you'll enjoy the easy access to all those wonderful fresh ingredients, and the wines…Who wouldn't want to live there!"

"Well Marian, now you'll have friends to visit there and a place to stay, you know you'll be welcomed to visit any time.  
Before I forget, I would like to discuss a few items with you, so as to warrant both your safety and that of Adam, after we leave."

"Oh sure, you are the master escape artist, what do you have in mind?"

"First of all, you would be better off if you spend the next two month away from here, otherwise you'll find yourself having to explain Adam's presence endlessly, and someone might become suspicious. Just in case you forgot, babies do not grow in cabbage patch."

They all chuckled

"I could say that an emergency came up with my mother, who is in a nursing home in Baltimore and I'll be staying in a hotel nearby, then , instead, just go to the summer house in the Chesapeake, the one I had in the "old days", and spend the summer there with Adam, by the end of summer, he'd be old enough to travel. Is a good thing that the house is equipped with medical facilities, not much or up to date, but enough to treat him if he runs into trouble, and I also have a small lab there and will make sure to bring plenty of medical supplies, medications, vaccinations, you name it."

"I remember the house," said Hannibal, "I always wondered why did you kept equipment and a lab there."

She smiled and winked

"I like to do research, always did."

"OK the," said Hannibal, "why don't you take the opportunity to call whoever is you second in command at the clinic and advice him that you are going to be leaving tomorrow, and make arrangement with the staff, and the stable folks as well, so there will be less chances that they try to contact you and find you are not at your brother's."

"Good thinking," Dr Kratzen started walking to the phone but Hannibal interrupted before she began to dial.

"On a related subject, can I ransack your _stash room _I need some medicines for Clarice and some other odds and ends."

"By all means, help yourself"

He left the room while Clarice sat tiredly on the couch with Adams still on the sling.

Dr. Kratzen, began to make her calls, while Clarice listened to her side of the conversation which was all they cared, until it was clear that the beginning of their plan was accomplished. Nobody was going to miss Marian for some time.

When Hannibal returned, with a small bag full of goodies, Clarice announced that she was going up to change Adam and they will both take a nap.

"I'm exhausted," she said, "this feeding Adam every three hours around the clock has a way to wear you out, even if we take turns to do it.

I want to keep him close, in this last day." She announced seemingly dejected.

"You are leaving tomorrow, then?"

"That is the plan, and I hope we do because if we stay longer I might not bring myself to leave him."

Clarice went upstairs, changed the baby and proceeded to bag the used diaper, as well as the other two in the waste basket, then removed the lining of the basket and bagged that too. When she was satisfied that no traces of Adam's DNA could be recovered from the scene, she placed the sealed bag atop the bed beside her purse.

She was happy that they had never got around to unload the Expedition and their suitcases, as well as most of Adam's gear, was all still in the truck. One less thing to worry about.

She then quietly walked down the stairs and did what she could to remain out of sight.

She could hear Hannibal talking to Marian Kratzen, his voice soft and mesmerizing. The more she listened the more mollifying his tone, and the most hypnotic.

_"If I stay here much longer I will be hypnotized too"_ she sniggered silently.

After an hour or so, when it was clear that the woman was completely under Lecter's control, Clarice moved further down the steps; she could see Hannibal, facing her, and Marion sitting on a soft chair her back to Clarice, responding weakly to Lecter's inquiries.

"OK, Marian, lets go to your study. You can write a short note there and then do as planned." He stood up and held his hand to his colleague. In contrast with his warm voice, the smile on his face was cold and chilling, totally devoid emotion, a smile Clarice was not familiar with. Not even when addressing Krendler during that fateful night at the Chesapeake had he displayed such cold remoteness.

"_This was a personal betrayal_." she thought

Kratzen seemed totally oblivious of Clarice's presence when she passed in front of her on the way to the study; when Hannibal looked at Clarice, his eyes turned suddenly warm when they met hers, and he winked.

She smiled back at him. Then turned around, and walked back upstairs.

Once in the bedroom, Clarice began to fold the few items of Adam that they had brought in the house, then put on a pair of rubber gloves that she removed from her hand bag, and began to wipe every possible surface they might have touched, and plenty of the ones they didn't but she decided to wipe just in case their fingerprints had miraculously jumped on the item. She went about it meticulously and with great care, while Adam slept peacefully in the infant/car seat.

She then picked up the car seat and moved to the bathroom where she whipped everything as well. After that, she made her way to her hallway and continued to work methodically, until she reached the main floor.

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Hope you enjoyed it, let me know

Clariz


	19. Chapter 17 Prelude to the Past

_The characters always belong to T. Harris, and I derive no profit from this fiction aside from the pleasure of writing it_.

Thanks to the kind folks who are taking the time to read this fiction. Especially to those who help me along with their comments.

**_Chapter 17   
_****_Prelude to the Past_**

Clarice found the Doctor in the kitchen, occupied with the serious affair of preparing what appeared to be a chicken salad. He too was wearing rubber gloves. 

"How did it go, is it _over_ yet?" she was not in the least uneasy with her feelings towards the woman. 

"Not yet," he interrupted his chopping and turned to face her. 

"She took a large overdose of barbiturates, enough to kill a large mammal, but they will take a little time to do their work. By now, her brain should be practically destroyed, but is prudent not to leave until we are certain that she is deceased." 

Then quite characteristically, he changed the subject,   
"I found some cold chicken in the refrigerator and I'm preparing sandwiches to eat on the road."   
The Doctor continued to mince some onion, his movements were economical and precise, and Clarice watched with fascination as the blade moved mechanically up and down on a rocking motion. 

She didn't want to badger him with further questions such as how much longer before they could leave; instead, she walked behind him, wrapped her arms around his waist, and pressed her cheek against his shoulder. She could feel the heat from his body through the clothing. It felt good.   
"I can't wait to get going, rather, I can't wait to get _there_, Hannibal."   
They were silent for a few minutes. 

"Maybe she thought she was in love with you."   
The words came out of nowhere but the Doctor was sure they had been eating her up.   
He interrupted his work and turned around again swiftly wiggling inside her embrace, her arms fell and he embraced her, their faces about an inch apart, his eyes boring into hers.   
"Love is a word, Clarice. A misused, over abused word, the feelings it describes is usually missing from the equation. In Marian's case, unfortunately, her actions didn't reflect _love_ as we understand it." 

Clarice put her head down, her forehead leaning on his mouth 

"Did you verify that she meant us harm, that we didn't misread her motives?" she finally asked 

"I asked her what she would have done if we refused to leave Adam with her. She answered that she would have killed us. 

Clarice snorted bitterly   
"Did she say how did she plan to get rid of our bodies?" her head was tilted to one side as if contemplating some unexplainable oddity, somehow adopting a look slightly reminiscent of that of the doctor.   
"Frankly, I didn't ask, what did it matter?" he shrugged. 

Hannibal Lecter finished assembling the sandwiches and packed them neatly in a corned of the cooler used to keep the baby bottles during their long drives.

"I'm going to check on her, it shouldn't be long now. I've been wiping the kitchen, and all we have left to clean is the living room, then we'll pack and leave."

"I'll start working on the living room them. Just as a precaution, but frankly, I doubt that they'll dust for fingerprints in suicide case complete with a signed note" Clarice said.

The drive to Georgia was long and tedious; Hannibal called the realtor and advised that they were on their way a day ahead of schedule. The realtor, who had collected a hefty fee for the rental, told them to pick up the keys at his home, gave them his address, advised that he'll wait up until midnight, and told them not to hesitate to wake him up if they arrived later than that.   
They had to stop twice to feed Adam, and during one of the stops, they ate their sandwiches in the car, washed them down with Perrier, and on every stop bought large cups of coffee for the road and in addition filled their carafe just in case they needed more coffee while later during the trip.

At 11:15PM they pulled in front of the Realtor's home. Along with the keys, the realtor gave them the code for the security system and a manual of instructions of how to work it.

When they finally arrived, the dusk to dawn lights were on, illuminating a single story ranch, again located in the middle of a 10 acres property, surrounded by a bounty of trees and vegetation.   
Hannibal managed to work the alarm, pull the truck in the 3 car garage, and re-activate the alarm while they accessed the house proper from the garage entry.

Clarice changed and fed Adam, while the Doctor removed a few items from the car, assembled the portable crib, and made their bed. Then suggested a nightcap, a nice glass of wine, before bed seemed suitable, after a day the compiled a 3 hour drive from Ohio, _assisting_ an old friend to commit suicide, and a 6 ½ hour drive to Georgia. Clarice had other plans.

"Let's take a shower first" she suggested taking him by the hand and leading they way to the bathroom.   
He grinned; knowing fully well that they will never get to the wine part, yet, her suggestion was much more appealing. 

Their lovemaking that night went full circle, from slow and deliberately tender at first, it grew in intensity until it reached an exceedingly passionate, almost rough pace; ultimately, they laid exhausted and loving in each other's arms and promptly feel asleep.

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Hannibal, the light sleeper, woke up early, showered and dressed in casual pants and a polo shirt, tended to Adam's needs, then with the baby in the sling, made his way downstairs and examined the kitchen briefly, leaving the rest of the house to explore with Clarice later on. 

According to the rental description there was supposed to a lanai, or screened deck, accessible from both the family room and the kitchen, that lead to a lower level patio complete with both an in-ground pool and a hot tub and a Japanese rock garden complete with an artificial stream.   
By the light of the dusk to dawn safety lights they had already seen the wraparound porch complete with hammock and two rocking chairs. The effect was very southern and pleasantly relaxing.

He wrote and elaborated note for Clarice and left it propped on the nigh table beside her. Placed Adam back in the bassinette and drove to Alpharetta, about 5 miles from the house where he shopped for an ample amount of groceries.

He was back in 45 minutes, put away the perishables, and went to check on Clarice, found her still sleeping while Adam entertained himself trying to reach to mobile attached to the basinet.   
He lifted him up while the baby uttered gurgles of recognition and delightful chirps.The doctors smiled at the child, unable to imagine how did he survived all those years deprived of these most basic feelings and interactions, then he just placed Adam in the baby seat and carried him down the stairs, placed the seat on the kitchen counter and began to put away the rest groceries.

The house was a single level ranch, and Hannibal could easily hear Clarice getting up and running the shower; then he calculated it was time to placed the bacon in the oven and wait with a cup of coffee as he entertained himself playing with Adam.   
The game consisted on the doctor picking up Adam with both hands, two fingers supporting his head, and lifting him up on the air and then bringing him down again while the baby squeaked with delight and laughed until he had to gasp for breath, the baby's laughter so contagious that the doctor laughed with him.   
He felt exhilarated and a world removed from his old self.   
That was exactly what Clarice thought when she walked in the kitchen, her hair still wet, and a budding smile that expanded when she took in the scene and the pure joy of their interaction.   
"If this is any indication, you were a very happy little boy." She commented, walking to him and squeezed him gently around the middle, then planted a kiss on the baby's cheek.

"Are you implying that I appear totally domesticated, Former Special Agent Starling?" the Doctor asked in the best of humors.   
"This question, from a man, who just a few hours ago, talked an old friend into killing herself? I must add that the domestic angle, adds greatly to the attraction." She run a feathery finger down his back while planting an innocent kiss on his cheek.

After breakfast they set to inspect the house.   
"Where are we, exactly?"   
"On the outskirts of Alpharetta, Georgia" Hannibal said, "A suburb of Atlanta, 23 miles away from the city. This house is supposed to be set in a 15 acre lot, let's check it out."

The kitchen was large, complete with an Island and a commercial stove and was part of a Great Room or family room from which it was separated only by a curved breakfast bar.Both the family room and the kitchen opened to lanai type deck by means of wood framed multi glass panel sliding doors.   
The deck itself opened to a patio, furnished with tables, chairs, and complete outdoor kitchen/grill with its own fridge and sink. The patio further opened to an adjacent in-ground pool and outdoor spa/hot tub. All surrounded by a perfectly manicured garden including a small Japanese rock garden and a small stream that ran through it.

"This is amazing," Clarice commented with a chuckle. "The best one yet, Hannibal! Lets check the rest of the inside now!"   
"If things go right, Clarice, we might not have to leave this one; we can keep the other two for an emergency and spend the next two month here, then fly from Atlanta to Buenos Aires with or without a connection in Miami, depending on what's available."

"That would be super! I love this house!" then, when his words sunk in "We are going to Buenos Aires?"   
"Buenos Aires is very beautiful, cosmopolitan and culturally at the level of any of the European Capitals such as Rome or Paris. In addition, they have an excellent ballet companies and fantastic Opera productions.   
I purchased a home there; it used to be the house of the Belgium Ambassador, before they consolidated his residence with the Consulate. Is one of the few Mansions left that don't belong to a foreign delegation." He smiled further "Ah, they have good schools too, so we don't have to worry about that for years to come."

She laughed, "Buenos Aires it is then, and I can't wait to get settler in a more sedated environment."   
"Sedated, Clarice?" he laughed, "_You_ want sedated?_" _

"I don't know about you, but I had enough excitement to last me for a lifetime, Doctor."

"And the fat lady has not yet sang!" he answered in uncharacteristic fashion.

They spent the entire day, setting up household and resting, both hoping to stay in this house longer than in the previous ones.   
They were tired after the long and eventful previous day and wanted to spend a quiet day at home.   
During the 4PM feeding they saw a News Brief stating that former FBI Director Tunberry failed to attend a Senate hearing for which he was subpoenaed and was later found missing from his house. More details would follow on the 6 O'clock news.   
Clarice tilted her head slightly to the side, and squinted as she did when evaluating situations she didn't fully understand.   
After a short silent, she asked,   
"What do you make of it?"

"There is not much to speculate over, Clarice. Though I don't imagine he just _up and left, _failing to appear on a Congress hearing unless he didn't plan to come back at all, or he was _held up_ somewhere, but who is to say? I guess we'll have to wait. You have to admit your former associates are a very sorry group."

"Don't rub it in, Hannibal," her comment was half in jest. "I'm well aware of their shortcomings. Shit! that's it!: they are like shit, the more you stir them the worse they smell."

"Colorful, but dangerous," he commented following her light mood. "_That_ might turn out to be Adam's first word, for all we know."   
"You mean, _shit?_…" she repeated laughing heartedly… "Wouldn't that be a gas?"

They prepared to watch the 6 O'clock news in the Family room, while enjoying their wine and a nice, if small tub of caviar that sat on a bed of ice, accompanied by tiny dishes with a few lemon slices, a couple of toast points and finely chopped hard boiled egg.

The news report was far from unexpected.   
Tunberry had been scheduled to testify in front of Senate Comity in charge of the investigation of the cloning affair; both Federal Marshals and his attorney had tried in vane to locate him.   
After further investigation it was determined that he seemed to be missing for at least 2 days.   
The Senate investigation was scheduled to question the distribution and the whereabouts of the 2 billion dollars that Turberry had been granted for the project when he originally presented it to Congress as an advanced research project for criminal profiling. His failure to show for the hearing ultimately resulted in the issuance of a warrant for his arrest.   
The former director of the FBI was now a fugitive.

"Talk about disgrace and public shaming!" Clarice declared with obvious satisfaction.

Her outburst amused the Doctor. The whole chain of events only validated the point he had tried to get across for years, and he made a conscious effort not to gloat.   
"Poetic Justice" was all he said; concentrating to arrange a generous serving of caviar on a toast point, then topped it with the chopped egg and handed it to Clarice.

"Still, I don't know whether this means that he just vanished and the chase is over," Clarice reasoned, "or that we will experience a short reprieve or that Noonan and Pearsall were not killed by his orders and that the he is next on the list. Can you make an educated guess?"

Her first questions were abundantly pondered over after the news, when all kinds of panels  assembled to speculate about the future safety of former Special Agent Clarice Starling and the child.

After dinner they retired to the family room, the doctor brought another bottle of Château d'Yquem and coffee and they sat quietly and comfortably, with Adam sleeping peacefully in the basinet by the couch.   
They had to wait until the midnight feeding before they could enjoy six hours of quiet, which was how long he slept at nigh between feedings.   
Suddenly Clarice leaned over and took his hand on hers, looked into his eyes and asked softly:   
"How long was it before you were rescued from the barn, Hannibal. You never told me how did you get out of there."

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_OK this is IT for today. I hope you enjoyed the chapter. We'll make a small detour in the next few chapter, with a few flashbacks and such._

_Let me know how I'm are always welcomed!_


	20. Chapter 18 La Vita Nuova

Hannibal and Mischa Lecter belong to Thomas Harris, and I make no profit from this story.

_This is one of my renditions of what happened "after the barn"… _

**_Chapter 18   
La Vita Nuova_**

The doctor looked at Clarice for a long time; then poured two glasses of Y'quem, placed one on the end table by her side and with his glass still in his hand, he sat beside Clarice, threw one arm around her shoulders, softly stroking her neck with his thumb and stared into the wine for a long time, as if moving swiftly through his memory palace, toward a place he had not planned to return.

"I suppose what saved me was the fever, after they cracked the bone in my upper arm, I must have developed a fever that prevented me from freezing as the remaining children did. Or maybe I was just not meant to die then. Is hard to fathom…

I have no idea how many days went by, until I woke to the sound of gunshots, which was not uncommon, and then yells and screams and men fighting. After a long while the doors to barn opened and a few men walked in, armed to their teeth with firearms and knives. They were filthy, eerie looking, their hair matted and their faces more than half covered with un-kept bushy beards.   
One of the men spotted me immediately and approached me, "You are Pieter Lecter's boy." he said, I nodded. I was feverish and confused, very hungry…so hungry that my stomach no longer hurt, it just felt numb, or maybe the pain from the arm surpassed all others."

As the story developed, Hannibal's voice became distant and dreamlike

"Don't you remember me, Hannibal? I'm Dr. Tirva, Milan Tirva."

The child tried to find a resemblance between the man standing in front of him and his father's old friend, but the face was almost entirely hidden by hair.

The man made a gesture with his hand, pointing to his face and appearance.

"Nobody looks like themselves anymore, child." He said softly   
"Is your sister with you, is she all right?"

The boy shook his head, "No" he murmured, and the man thought better not to ask further. Instead he turned to the others, "they boy comes with me, he is the son of an old friend. Feel free to take what you can find, is yours."

Nobody answered.

"Can you walk, Hannibal?"

"I can try," the child said, getting to his feet with some difficulty.

Dr. Tirva looked at him then, _'he weights next to nothing'_, he though, picking him up. The boy felt clammy and feverish.

"I have a horse, a luxury in this parts, and medications, and will try to get us some food." he talked to the child until they reached the horse. The other men were leaving too, some traveled on horses, most by foot; and carried whatever useful items they found. The doctor only carried Hannibal.   
During the walk toward the place where they had hidden the horses before their attack on the deserters, the child heard the men comment that the rest of the children had frozen to death, that this pitiful one was the only survivor.

Milan Tirva placed the child on the saddle and wrapped a blanket around him. Then he mounted the horse behind the child, put one arm around the boy's waist and they began their journey

"If we see people I'm going to lose hold of you to reach for my gun, until such time as we determine if the folks are friends or foes, do you suppose when that happens you'd be able sit firm on the saddle?"

"I know how to ride, I do feel weak, but I won't fall…I hope…"

"I'll take a look at your arm as soon as we get to what was the caretaker's cabin of my own hunting lounge. That is where we live now, my wife and I and Vilka."

The boy remembered Vilka, a little girl maybe a year younger than him, pale and blond with huge eyes and a shy demeanor.

"You need food." The Doctor declared tightening his grip around the boy.

"Do you have food?"

"There is food to be had if one is not squeamish, Hannibal. And I'm sure you are not squeamish, are you?

"Just hungry" was the gloomy, weak response.

During the long ride, Dr. Tirva told Hannibal how he, and his wife and child had taken refuge in his own Hunting Lodge right after they heard rumors that both the retreating soldiers, and the deserters had been vandalizing all the mansions in the area, raping and slaughtering the occupants.   
Once they were in the lodge for a few days and the Lodge keeper didn't make an appearance, he decided to investigate, but he didn't want to leave his wife and daughter behind in fear for their lives, so they took his doctor's bag and another bigger one filled with medications, and as many blankets as they could carry, just in case they might need them, and a few clothes.   
Together the three of them traveled to the Lodge keeper's cabin, just to find him gone, the cabin empty and apparently ransacked, but the furniture was still sound and the modest plates and utensils still usable.

The trip saved their lives. While they were gone their Lodge was vandalized and partially burned. It was just pure luck that the fire didn't spread, leaving the Lodge keeper's cabin well hidden in a still intact part of the forest.

"Your parents…" started Tirva

"Are dead," finished the child. "All the grown ups at the house were killed, and the women attacked and _then_ killed. They took us children to the Lodge and kept us in the barn, for food." His voice was cold and detached as if he was reading a book.

"We'll take care of you Hannibal. Your father would have done the same for my family."

"My father is dead" he seemed to feel the need to repeat it, as if hearing it, he could manage to put aside the gruesome images of how they died and embrace the thought that they were in peace. And somehow thus, accept that they were gone.

"I'm the only one left" he murmured.

Madame Tirva was tiny and blonde and very softspoken. Her heart was filled with sorrow when she saw the condition of the boy, skin and bones, he was; with his huge eyes looking so utterly sad, she wondered if he'd ever recover.

Her husband explained that he planned to give the boy a strong painkiller before resetting the broken arm, and wanted his stomach empty until he was finished. Then they would bathe him, feed him, and put him to bed.

The little girl Vilka, approached them, kissed her father, then went to Hannibal and took his hand. The boy's blank expression didn't seem to deter her,   
"My mother and I will wash your clothes while you sleep. From now on you'll be my brother….Do you want to be my brother, Hannibal?" she sounded hopeful,

He looked at the girl with a solemn expression, his head slightly tilted to one side. Then conceded.

"Yes Vilka, I'll be your brother. I'll hope your father teaches me how to help take care of you and your mother."

"I'll do that Hannibal," said Dr. Tirva. "I'm sure you'll be a fast learner. You are a very unusual boy."

The arm had to be broken and reset again, and Dr. Tirva was aware that even under sedation the pain was going to be excruciating, but the child bore it well, and both he and his wife were impressed by Hannibal's composure, so unusual in someone so young.

After the procedure the doctor set the arm on a makeshift splint, and put it in a sling.

The boy seemed weaker from the pain, but accepted a bowl of a rich stew/soup type of dish with meat and root vegetables, which he found delicious.   
When he finished his serving Madame Tirva promised him to give him another bowl after his bath, explaining that it was wise not to eat too much at once until his stomach got used to food again.

Hannibal thanked her formally.

"You don't have to call me Madame Tirva, is too long and too formal" she said, in a soft, almost conspiratorial voice. "Why don't you just call me Aunt Anna?"

"Aunt Anna" repeated the boy, in a dreamy tone as if testing the sound of it.

After the bath, she offered him another bowl of soup, but Hannibal was too sleepy and they put him to bed. They had no sheets but they a good supply of blankets, and she wrapped him in one and covered him with another.

For many month they hid in the Cabin. They had plenty of root vegetables to last the winter, thanks to what had clearly been the foresight of the lodge keeper. In the summer, much began to re-grow from the ground and they cultivated it.

As soon as Hannibal was fit to ride, the doctor assigned him Vilka's little pony, the one she rode from the Lodge, and the two of them went out to seek for meat.

After the fires, there were few animals left on the surrounding woods, but if they ventured forward, they found the frozen bodies of the victims of the deserters that ransacked and killed whomever they found in their path.

The doctor patiently explained to Hannibal after they thawed in the coming spring, the dead, would either rot, or be put to good use and eaten for the sustenance of those still alive.

"Is a sin to waste good meat, when we would otherwise starve." He said, wisely, "and, what is the point to leave them be, so the worms can eat them instead?"

The most difficult part was to dissect the frozen bodies to remove the desirable parts, but somehow, the doctor managed to do it. The thymus gland, the kidney and liver's seemed to be the easiest parts to remove.

Not only did they secure meat for their winter meals, but managed to preserve much for the spring and summer; some by salt curing some by slow cooking and preserving in fat such as the old methods practiced for centuries in the South of France.

The doctor taught Hannibal the procedures over and over until the boy learned how to do it himself, even if seldom because it was such a labor intensive task, especially for someone that young.

He also gave the boy a huge hunting knife and taught him how to use it; how kill someone effectively if the occasion arouse.

The children grew rather devoted to one another, and Hannibal was very protective of his adopted sister.

They consider themselves fortunate to have clothes, and eat delicious ragouts, braised for hours until they were dark and delicious. In the mist of chaos and grief, their life was more than bearable.

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That's it for now. I hope you liked the chapter, the direction is taking and how is developing.   
_I'm posting this one a little ahead of schedule, and TRULY would like some feed back.   
The next one will follow in a week or so._

Clariz


	21. Chapter 19 Communion

_The characters of Hannibal Lecter and Clarice Starling belong to Thomas Harris, I derive no profit from this fiction.   
_I am most grateful to all of the faithful readers who commented on the story, encouraging me to go on with the twists and turns of it.

I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**_Chapter 19 _**

**_"Communion"_**

The first thing they heard as they approached the cabin was the screams coming from the back by the little stream where behind the cabin. The screams grew lauder as they got closer, mixed then with the voices of men shouting obscenities. Dr Tirva dismounted, turned to Hannibal, and handed him the reigns

"Take care of the horses, while I check on the back," he said, pointing to the trees where he clearly wanted the boy to hide the horses.

Hannibal nodded, then got off his pony and led the horse and his pony deeper in the woods where they couldn't be seen, while the Doctor made his way toward the back of the house. There were shouts and gunfire, followed by more shouts and more gunfire. The women had stop screaming and there was the sound of one male voice, still shouting obscenities.

Seven and a half year old Hannibal unsheathed his hunting knife and walked swiftly to the back of the cabin.

The scene there was appalling. Three men laid death or dying, one atop Aunt Anna, who was herself covered with blood, her skirts pulled up and the bodice of her dress torn, the upper part of her head half missing. Both the doctor and another man lay dead, while still another one was vigorously ridding atop Vilka, the lower part of her body on a pool of blood, the girl no longer screaming or moving except from the impact from the man on top of her.

Hannibal felt a surge of overwhelming rage, and his head throbbed as if it would explode, but he was calm. Swiftly and silently he approached the man from behind, jumped on his back, and slashed his throat from side to side with surprising ease. The man made a sharp movement with his right arm and fell on top of Vilka, covering her completely, while Hannibal jumped to the side and looked at the whole scene as in a nightmare; yet he felt cold and collected and knew exactly what he was supposed to do.

His first priority was to get Vilka from under the man, and he pushed and pulled, until he was finally able to uncover the top part of her body. Desperately he kneeled beside her and run his hands over her face to clean the blood that covered it, all the while calling her name and urging her to wake up, telling her that she was safe…. safe….safe…she was safe.

When his efforts to revive her failed, he continued to push the man's body until it was entirely off her.

Only then did it down on him the significance of her tiny body lying in a pool of blood, and he knew, with overwhelming certainty that she too was dead.

Almost of its own volition, a long piercing noise stemmed from his throat, and the sound simultaneously frightened, lulled, and numbed him. He kept thus screaming while he scoped some of his little friend's blood and rubbed it over own face, then raised his arms to the heavens and continued to yell.

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Calmed and composed, Dr Hannibal Lecter stood up to refill their wine glasses, while in her minds eyes, Clarice tried to picture him as he had been then, small for his age, thin, dark and intense; alone again in an environment where debauchery, violence and survival of the fittest appeared to prevail.

She heard his metallic, unused voice of long ago, in the dungeon: _"I happened."_ he said then and the impact of his statement hit her once again with the renewed realization that he was not the product of his environment but of his own personal reaction to the violence that surrounded him. Another child would have probably not survived or made something different of what happened. Maybe sold his soul to survive or compromised. Not Hannibal, he fought back. Even at seven and a half Hannibal Lecter would not consent to be broken.

She felt a massive surge of love for him, a tremendous need to protect the child he had been, and felt guilty for asking the man he was today to walk back through that hell to satisfy her curiosity.

She wanted to reach out for him and hold him, but thought he might misinterpret he gesture as pity, and pity would offend him.

So she sought eye contact until he finally looked at her. When he did, his eyes seemed empty at first, but then he _saw_ her and for an instant, he appeared almost vulnerable, and in that second she loved him more than she ever thought possible.

Reading her feelings in her eyes, Hannibal reached with one hand and brought her to him while his mouth blindly reached for hers. Clarice clutched to him as if she feared he would disappear into his past and vanish forever. She told him about here her guilt for having asking him to revisit a place where he should never revisit.   
But Hannibal thought differently.

"I don't mind going there again as long as you are beside me, to dig me up if I go too far under. In fact, Clarice, it might be therapeutic to go back there armed with your love as a shield."

He eyes welled with tears, and she hid them, leaning her head on his shoulder.

"Did you ever discuss any of these with your fated therapist?" she inquired.

"No, she would have used my past to make excuses for my behavior instead of admitting that I am who I am, and my actions are a result of who I am, not what happened to me."

She lifted her head to look at him, and pushed on

"Did it get worse after that?" she couldn't help herself, she needed to know.

"Not really, I had to leave the cabin because of the smell, it was early fall and still hot and the bodies decomposed fast. As an accolade, before I buried them I removed some organs of each of my adopted family members, cooked them, and ate them. Making them a part of me, then I left; by foot, because a horse would have made me the target of thieves.   
It was difficult to get food because the bodies that had not yet been carried away by the rescuers, were rotting on the side of the road, I didn't know if those soldiers were friends or foes, so I hid from them.

Mainly I killed a few animals for food, but they were slippery and hard to catch. Dr Tirva taught me all I needed to know for survival and I made small fires so as not to attract attention and cooked the skinny animals I managed to catch, but it was difficult and the food didn't last long. Once I killed a man for food, and one because he caught me and was going to do me harm. I ate him too.

Ultimately, I failed to avoid the soldiers and they took me to a children shelter. They were kind enough, both the soldiers and the people from the shelter. From the children shelter they took me to an orphanage. When the orphanage became overcrowded, some of the children were moved elsewhere by the Red Cross. I ended up in Paris, where a Lithuanian couple, who had heard of my family, finally adopted me. They were nice, but I didn't want to become attached anymore. I thought that if I did, I would lose them too as I had lost all the others."

Clarice nodded silently. She knew the feeling only too well.

He got up, walked to the bassinette and stood watching Adam, then turned to Clarice and signaled for her to approach and look. When she did, she stood by him and took his hand, he squeezed gently and turned to her,

"Don't fear that I would mistake your love for pity, Clarice, don't be afraid to express your feelings."

She opened her mouth and then closed it and smiled instead, no longer surprised by his keen insight. Then let go of his hand and wrapped both arms around his waist. He pulled her to him and they turned to look at the baby.

Adam had managed to stretch and reach one of the animals on the mobile, grasped it firmly, and attempted to pull with determination, when the object didn't respond; he pulled so hard that his entire little torso was several inches off the mattress.

When he saw them he let go of the object, smiled and cooed, bright eyes and happy, stretching his tiny hand towards them. Hannibal picked him up.

"You are going to outgrow the basinet any time now, aren't you big boy?"

Then place him back in the basinet.

"I think is time to put an end to the chase, Clarice." He said, removing a syringe from his pocket. "We need to provide them with proof of your and Adam's death. Why don't you go and get me one of his tiny body suits and a plastic bag?"

When Clarice came back she handed him a tiny one piece "snap on" and kept the plastic bag in her hand. Hannibal then withdrew a fair amount of blood from Adam and squirted it expertly onto the tiny garment, then handed it to Clarice who placed it in the plastic bag and zipped it.

"You are next," he said turning to Clarice. "I'm going to need more blood from you, two vials at least, a T shirt and another plastic bag. Let me fetch the needle and vials while you get the rest."

Once he revealed his plan Clarice argued,

"If you claim that you killed us, then they'll be after you again. Why not make it appear as if we were killed by those responsible for Pearsall and Noonan's death and all the others?"

"Tsk, tsk Clarice, your feelings are clouding you judgment," he teased, "If I did as you suggest it wouldn't deceive those who are after you; they would know is a ploy to avert them. But _I _have credibility in the murder department. If I claim I killed you then everyone would believe I did."

Their love making was intense and sometimes furious that night and went on for a good part of the night. Clarice feared he would have nightmares, and held on to him for dear life, but he sleep as peacefully as Adam.

The next day, they drove to Atlanta, where they did some serious shopping, including a small printer and standard printer paper from CompUsa. Then they purchased an ample supply of baby formula and a variety of various household goods.

On the way back they stopped at the Fresh Market in their own town of Alpharetta, a well known, pricey Gourmet Market where Hannibal was able to find items that met and even exceeded his expectations. He was pleased and promised to shop there for all their groceries.

Once they got home, Hannibal composed one of his lengthy notes,

_To whom it may concern_:

_After the various attempts by unknown sources against lives of former Special Agent Starling and the child, it occurred to me that I should be the one to carry the deed, with the dignity and compassion they both deserve._

_Shortly after their demise, it become clear to me that the world would become a duller place without the presence of Starling in it and decided it was appropriate for me to follow. A project that I decided to carry on in my native Lithuania._

_But the time this missive reaches its final destination, I will have long completed my final endeavor._

_As a last suggestion I would I strongly advice that you abandon the search for the remains of either former Special Agent Starling or the child, as I consumed most of their choice parts in a final act or respectful communion._

_Sincerely,_

_Hannibal Lecter, MD_

Clarice thought the later was a nice touch, but refrained from asking him if he had truly eaten any of his victims or if it had all been whimsical bravado. She really didn't want to discuss that part of his past.

A long time user of re-mailing services, the doctor hand wrote the inner envelope, and prepared the items for mailing. The service would address it and have it mailed from the place of his choice, and ultimately the envelope that would end up on the desk of the News Editor of the New York Times. A liberal, credible Newspaper not dedicated to sensationalism.

Once they dropped the item in a mail box they sat back and celebrated. Now they'd have to wait.

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OK let me know how did you like this one, and if you like the new direction we are taking.   
I DO hope you enjoyed this chapter.

Clariz


	22. Chapter 20 The Cult

They main characters belong to Thomas Harris, this story is written for fun and no profit.

_Thanks to all the faithful readers who have been following Adam from the go. Specially to those who with their comments encourage me to go on. There will be just a few more chapters now and we'll be done with this one. Let me know how do you like the way is going._

**_Chapter 20  
_****_The Cult_**

The news of Tunberery's death was reported four days after they mailed the package. They heard it on CNN during the mid afternoon feeding, in the kitchen, while Clarice sorted the laundry and Hannibal gave Adam his bottle which the baby occasionally managed to hold on to by himself. A wondrous achievement for a baby his age.

_"The body found yesterday floating on the Chesapeake has been identified as that of Gabriel Tunberry, the former director of the FBI, who was under Senate investigation regarding his masterminding the project that allegedly succeeded to clone the infamous Chesapeake serial killer Dr. Hannibal, the Cannibal, Lecter. The cause of death has not yet been determined contingent with the results of the autopsy now under way. Unidentified law enforcement sources suggested the possibility that he might have killed himself rather than face the possible charges resulting from the on going investigation; while others implied that he might have been assassinated ._

_A source from the Senate Investigation Committee, who chose to remain anonymous, assured this reporter that the untimely death of the former director will not put a halt to the investigation, which will continue with the diminished resources now available. Other individuals connected with the "Tunberry project" met an equally untimely demise during the last five weeks. There is speculation regarding the possibility that both former Special Agent Clarice Starling and the cloned child might have be met a similar fate."_

"Per..fect!" Clarice said, a huge smile on her face.

Adam suddenly dropped the bottle that Lecter had allowed him to hold entirely by himself, and it rolled over the doctor's chest and legs before it hit the floor; leaving a trail of formula on his shirt and trousers.

"He is only 5 weeks, Hannibal, there is just so much he can do by himself," Clarice chuckled without missing a beat. "He is not Superbaby, you know?"

Hannibal Lecter took a deep breath and contemplated her with his head tilted to the side, his face a blank mask.

"He is not?"

"Well…" Clarice trailed off, dismissing his question "Did he almost finish the bottle of we have to change the nipple on the thing?"

The doctor pondered on the fact that not only he would never own her but neither would he intimidate her in the least. The thought amused him, he was proud of her.

"He was almost finished," he responded with a smile, while he bent to pick up the bottle, holding the child in the crook of one arm, then placed the bottle on the table and accommodated Adam over his shoulder to burp him, the boy immediately began to play with the Doctor's collar, attempting to reach for the button and bringing it -and the collar, to his mouth.

"You have baby formula all over your pants, and now he has the collar of your shirt as well," she teased, finding the thought of "hands on" fatherhood functions outrageously funny and out of character with the Doctor's _public image_. "You might want to change and I'll add them to the laundry."

"There is no need for that Clarice, I CAN survive a few stains until I change for dinner." Responded her usually perfectly groomed _monster_

She chuckled , then suddenly switched back to business mode.

"When do you suppose we'll read anything regarding the package to the NY Times?" Clarice was anxious to see their plot unfolded. She was anxious to reach some degree of safety.

"I think tomorrow. Calculate 2 days in each direction for the turnaround; and one day for processing. Once the Times get it, it will be hours before it hits the street."

The next day, as expected the news began to pour in at about 12 Noon, clearly the Times had received their package.

CNN had a Special Report, entitled _Hannibal__ the Cannibal eats Mini-Me. Starling dead!_

In the report that followed they announced that the NY Times had received package containing an infant body suit and a woman's T shirt both soaked in blood, accompanied by a note, allegedly from the notorious serial killer, boasting to have killed and eaten both the former agent and the child.

The Times had turned the package over to the FBI, and a spokesman promised to produce positive identification of all items within 24 hrs.

The reporters elaborated about speculations and presumptions from endless "anonymous sources" claimed that the doctor was responsible for all the deaths related to the case, while others, insisted that the other deaths didn't fit the doctors MO.

Still other sources, according to the reporter, claimed that the deaths of A Bennings, Dr Janice Duncan and the pediatrician were also related to the case, and insisted that the former Director had killed himself when it became clear to him that the charges of embezzlement would inevitably be added to those already under investigation. They further demanded that the Committee investigate and fully disclose the allocation of the 2 billion dollars granted to Tunberry for his project

No soon the news hit the media, the talk shows and panels began to conjecture about the fate of Starling and Adam and the reappearance of Dr. Lecter.

Every faction group used them for their purposes, some extreme liberal groups decided that maybe Dr. Lecter had decided to eliminate the infant, cloned without his consent and in complete violation of his human rights. They conjectured that probably Starling got on the way and he killer her too.

Other members of the same group claimed that the violation of Starling and her baby right to privacy and the publicity that ensued had all lead to Lecter learning about the project and enacting his own kind of self serving whimsical justice. They claimed the media had been a factor in their untimely death and made some to the participation of the media in the death of Princess Diana.

In short, everyone was in an uproar, regardless of their platform, and everyone mourned the death of Clarice and Adam.

Hannibal and Clarice, laughed, drank an excellent beer, and ate pistachio nuts on the patio, while they watched the whole brouhaha on a small TV that stood on a serving cart and was plugged in the outdoor outlet; whilst the Doctor set up to grill two lobster tails for their lunch, which he served with a salad of mixed greens and tomatoes.

They had set Adam's infant/car seat on the floor of that patio, in the shade. He seemed to like the arrangement, probably because it gave him ample view of the surrounding areas, he seemed fascinated by birds, which he inevitably tried to reach with his tiny hands or entertained himself playing with a fuzzy toy that hung from the hood of the seat.

By 2:30 PM CNN was playing video clips of a small demonstration by some of Starling's "fans" in Seattle, who demanded to full disclosure of the fact regarding their hero.

Suddenly a thumping noise, from Adam's direction attracted their attention.

To their astonishment, he had each tiny hand on the sides of the seat and was attempting, rather successfully, to rock the entire seat, in a clear effort to free himself from the restraining straps. His little face was red from the effort, and as he took momentum the seat rocked slightly from side to side.

"I'll be dammed," Clarice muttered, getting up swiftly "he is not even 6 weeks old yet, he is definitely not suppose to be able to do this….is he?"

"Not supposed is true, but clearly _he can_ do itHis motor skills, and strength are quite unique for his age," said Dr Logic, joining her at Adam's side, "Would you say that he dislikes being restrained?" he quipped with obvious satisfaction.

"What could ever give you that idea?" she retorted.

Hannibal Lecter unbuckled the boy and picked him up. "Here you go, Superboy, you are free now".

The baby laughed, kicked his legs with delight, and reached for the top button of the Doctor's polo shirt and lunged to it with his mouth.

"Clarice, why don't you set that blanket in the floor, I want to try something?" He pointed at a blanket wrapped around the handle of the baby seat.

He then placed Adam on his stomach atop the blanket and gestured for Clarice to wait and watch. They only had to wait second before the boy figured out what he could do. Then he rocked himself and rolled over on his back, then, not without difficulty, he rolled back up on his stomach. After the first attempts he mastered the maneuver and continued to roll back and forth, laughing with delight of his own newly found prowess

"This," The doctor said, pointing at Adam's rolling "is expected from a 4 to 5 month baby, even older. But never from a 6 week old infant" He said, sounding pleased, while he picked Adam off the floor. "Nor is someone this young expected to reach out for objects as we see him do, or have the control of movements that he displays."

Once the Doctor accepted the fact that his feelings for Starling were indeed love, and allowed himself to the double edged reward derived from feeling of human emotions, he found a wealth of yet untapped experiences waiting to be explored.

When he fist knew of Adam's possible existence, he followed his instinct that directed him to protect his own, his kin, as it were, and a child, made as a duplicate of himself was on the top of his priority list; and while he was fully prepared for the intensity of his feeling for Clarice to grow as their relationship developed, he had been totally unprepared for his the intensity of his feeling for Adam.

The bond that developed between them during the past 5 ½ weeks far exceeded the boundaries of his previous experience.

Now he was as proud of the baby's accomplishments as he had once been of any of his own.

"The kid is amazing," he muttered, then looked at Clarice and blushed.

Clarice could honestly declare she had never expected to see him blush and was pleasantly surprised. As much as she adored his keen mind, and his seemingly supernatural perception, she thrived on any display of human emotions and positively loved his _hands on_ attitude towards child care.

"He is you, Hannibal, a small version of you, and just as brilliant." She reminded him.

"Adam," she said to the boy, pocking him gently on the tummy as she often did, "A D A M"

"A Dam…Adam" responded the tiny infant with concentrated effort.

"Yes, A D A M," she repeated a little overenthusiastic.

"Adam," the boy repeated with glee, noticing he had gotten it right

She pointed to the Doctor, "P A PA, Papa."

"Pa…pa" Adam whispered tentatively.

"That's enough for one day, I can't stand this much competition." The Doctor teased.

They feed him then and set him up for a nap.

"Why don't we try _napping _too, " suggested Clarice, taking him by the hand and smiling suggestively. "Sounds like a much more interesting prospective that watching the news of my death…however convenient it might be"

The Doctor smiled in agreement, pleased with the suggestion.

To be continued

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That's all for now, the next chapter will follow in a few weeks. Until then, let me know how I'm doing


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